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Middle East Photography: At Rubenstein

Collections in Rubenstein

Special collections & manuscript materials are handled according to special rules and procedures established by Rubenstein Library. Please consult the page Finding Materials before you request any items.

Bonfils, Félix and Georges Saboungi.
Palestine photograph albums, ca. 1881.
Rubenstein Library Library Service Center Box 1 & 2
Check availability @ Duke
Holmes, Randolph Bezant, 1888-1973.
R. B. Holmes photographs, 1910-1919 and undated.
Rubenstein Library Library Service Center Fully Processed: Box 1-3
Finding Aid/Guide
Check availability @ Duke
Collection of ninety-two 11.5 x 9.5" black-and-white photographic prints of Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. The images were taken by British photographer R. B. (Randolph Bezzant) Holmes and possibly others from his studio who traveled with him. Holmes was the owner of the R. B. Holmes & Co. photography studio in Peshawar, Pakistan. The majority of these detailed images were taken during the end of the Anglo-Afghan war in 1919 and depict large British military camps and vast landscapes, sometimes with camel caravans or military convoys. Some scenes show the remains of villages, military features such as towers, and religious structures. There are also portraits of individuals along with scenic views. Several of the images have been hand-tinted, probably by Holmes himself.
Jewett, Milo A. (Milo Augustus), 1857-1921.
Milo A. Jewett albumen photographs of northern Turkey, 1891-1894 and undated.
Rubenstein Library - Library Service Center Fully Processed: Box 1 Check availability @ Duke
Summary: Physician, amateur photographer, and American consul in Turkey (Sivas, 1892-1905 and Trebizond, 1905-1911).
Collection comprises 19 images of various locations in the northern provinces, including 18 mounted albumen photographs probably taken by Jewett, along with one published view of Sivas attributed to Franklin Eng Co, Boston. All but one of the images is captioned, and several photographs an additional information written on the back of the mount. Ten of the photographs were taken in Sivas; other locations identified include the Kızıl Irmak River, Tokat Plain, and Divaik[?]. Two of the photographs document the quarantine camps established during a cholera outbreak in 1894. Other subjects include housing conditions, street life, and the Seljuk Gateway and ruin. There are individual photographs of groups of people, including Armenian Christian women returning from a prayer meeting, a father and his daughters, a graduating class of local teachers, and attendees at a hanging of a murderer. A boxlist listing the photographs and their captions is stored with the materials.
Rosenthal, Mel.
Mel Rosenthal photographs and papers, 1975-2004
Rubenstein Library Finding aid
Includes 25 16x20 and 21 11x14 gelatin silver prints from Rosenthal's exhibit "ARAB AMERICANS - AMERICAN BY CHOICE." This exhibit documented Arabic-speaking Americans, many of whom were living in New York State. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts.
Sebah & Joaillier.
Panorama de Constantinople : pris de la tour de Galata
ca. 1878-ca. 1890.
Rubenstein Library E f#1559 Rare Books Check availability @ Duke
Summary: Panoramic vista of Constantinople in an accordion-fold format encompassing approx. 270 degrees, taken from the Galata Tower looking across the quarter of Galata towards the Tophane district and the Bosporus beyond, then to the outer Golden Horn harbor and the tip of the Istanbul peninsula with the Palace of Topkapi, then sweeping across the city inland along the Golden Horn waterfront towards the district of Eyüp.
Watts, George Washington, 1851-1921.
George Washington Watts photograph albums, [188-?]
Rubenstein Library: Reading Room only Check availability @ Duke
Summary: Collection (03-111) comprises two photograph albums of albumen prints collected by Watts during a trip to the Middle East. The albums contain photographs made by a number of prominent 19th-century photographers working in the Middle East, including A. Beato, Félix Bonfils, Gulmez Freres, Reiser, G. Lekegian, Sebah & Joaillier, and Zangaki.