Photograph of Osman Karahasan no. 17

Photograph of Osman Karahasan, born in 1902 and still living in 1994. It was taken in the studio of an anony­mous Greek photographer, most probably in Famagusta, in the year 1921. The photograph was sent to the fiancée of Osman as a souvenir. The young man stands in front of an artificial, painted background which depicts a landscape with palm trees. In his right hand he holds a folding kırma baston (walking stick), while the elbow is resting on a corner table, the front side of which bears an elaborate relief decoration showing a mask of a lion’s head with open mouth. On the table is a flow­erpot decorated with pie-crust garlands and plastic animals, a rare example of a type of pottery which was made exclusively in Varoshia. Osman has short hair and moustache, and wears a plain Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes). His loom-woven gömlek (shirt) is made of silk (sadakor) which forms vertical wrinkles in the weaving (due to partly looser weft); around the neck, under the collar, he wears a kırmızı mendil (red kerchief). The dark-coloured jacket is of western style and has a silver pin on the collar; a silk handkerchief shows in the left breast pocket. The şalvar (pleated breeches) are made of broadcloth and close just below the knees, where they meet the long çorap (stockings). Along the sides the şalvar (breeches) are decorated with applied black braids which form curvilinear patterns on a light, most probably light blue background. Origi­nally such şalvar (pleated breeches) were matched with a similarly decorated waistcoat, also made of blue broadcloth. The çorap (stockings) are white and decorated with lozenge (lokumlu) patterns. The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are also white (beyaz) and provided with high heels. Around his waist is a loom-woven guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) with a silk kese (purse) hidden in it.