Photograph of Fatma Hasan Selim and Hasan Selim no. 029

Montage photograph of an old couple, probably taken around 1930. They sit side by side with their hands resting on their knees. Both have white hair and are dressed in light colours. The wife, Fatma Hasan Selim (1875-1955), was a seamstress (terzi = dressmaker) by trade. Her traditional headscarf (yemeni) is fringed with lace. Her white dress, printed (basma) with flower patterns, is gathered and tied around the waist. The long dress reaches down to the ankles so that one can see her hand-knitted patterned stockings (bir düz bir lastik örneği – ‘one straight one elastic’ knitting pattern). She wears black bar shoes and a ring on her left hand. The husband, Hasan Selim (1882-1948), was an important merchant selling his goods to many villages. He has a thick white moustache and bushy black eyebrows. He wears a jacket, vest and trousers of western style, made of loom-woven silk fabric (bürüncük, bürümcük = kind of crepe made of raw silk). The fabric was woven by his wife, who also sewed the suit. Under the jacket part of a watch chain appears, hanging from a buttonhole of the waistcoat. He also wears a ring on his right hand; the top of the ring is round, most probably a golden lira with Atatürk’s head depicted on it. The laced shoes are black. Selim had adopted this European-looking style of attire, following Atatürk’s reforms, which included a westernization of dress. The photograph was donated by Afet Halil Hoca. Village: Klavdia (Klavya), Larnaca District.