11/4/2017 TheZangakisBrothers19CenturyOrient'sPhotographersTheNationalHerald

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TheZangakisBrothers19CenturyOrientsPhotographers
TNHStaff(https://www.thenationalherald.com/author/TNHstaff/) February1,2015

ItisnoexaggerationtosaythatthehistoryoftheNearEast,duringtheVictorianEra,isnowlargelyseenthroughtheeyesoftheZangakis
brothers.

Activefromthe1860stothe1890s,theZangakisbrotherswerecommercialphotographersbasedinEgypt.Theimagesthesemencreatedwere
notlimitedtoEgyptalonebutalsoincludedphotographicworkinAlgiersandPalestine.TheZangakisbrothersprincipallycateredtothegrowing
WesterntouristmarketintheNearEast.Theirpicturescapturedthelocalsightsandantiquitiesinclusiveofstreetscenesandethnicgroups.Toour
contemporarysensibilitiestheZangakisbrothersphotographsseemstiffandposed,focusingmostoftenonclothingandothersignsofexotic
difference.Nonetheless,thephotographs,photoalbums,postcardsandothersurvivingimagesfirsttakenbytheZangakisbrothersarenow
treasuredimagesofbothhistoryandart.

LittleexistsinthehistoricalrecordonGeorgios(ca.18451895)andConstantinos(ca.18451916)Zangakis.Thisisespeciallystrikingsincethe
pioneeringworkofthesetwomenprovedsocommandingthatZangakisimagesarefoundinnearlyeverylatetravelalbumofphotographsofthe
NearEast.Toconfirmthispointonehistoricalresearchershiftedthroughthisliteratureanddiscoveredthatthereareatleastonethousandfive
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hundredprintsincollectionstodaythatIknowofwhichshowstheywereprolificandsuccessfulphotographers.Yetatthesametimeno
bibliographicmaterialonthesemenaccompaniesanysincephotographoralbumoftheirimages.
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11/4/2017 TheZangakisBrothers19CenturyOrient'sPhotographersTheNationalHerald

WhatwenowknowoftheZangakisbrothersisdueentirelytoAlikisX.Xanthakisinhiswatershedstudy,HistoryofGreekPhotography18391960
(Athens:HellenicLiteraryandHistoricalArchivesSociety).Butbeawarethatthisinformationisinthesecondeditionofthisbook.Theever
resourcefulXanthakistrackeddownoneofthesurvivingZangakisgrandsons.

TheZangakisbrotherswerebornontheislandofMilos.GeorgiosZangakisleftMilostoseekhisfortunefirstsettlingwithrelativesinHeraklion
Crete.In1865,GeorgiostraveledtoEgyptfinallysettlinginPortSaidin1869andnotlongafterhisyoungerbrotherConstantinosjoinedhim.As
KenJacobson,notesinhisbook,Odalisques&Arabesques:OrientalistPhotography,18391925,itisnotknownwheretheylearnedphotography
butsoonaftertheirarrivalinEgypttheybecameestablishedphotographers.TheGreekbrothersphotographsareverycommonlyfoundintourists
albumsassembledintheMiddleEastinthelatterpartofthe19thcentury.FromtheirPortSaidstudio,theywereinanidealpositiontoselltothose
ontheGrandTour(London,2007,p.277).

ThearrivaloftheZangakisbrotherscoincidedwiththelocaltourismwhichonlyincreasedwiththeopeningoftheSuezCanalin1869.Tobesure
thetwoZangakisbrotherswerenottheonlyforeignbornphotographerstoarriveintheNearandMiddleEastduringthispivotalperiod.Aswecan
seebythethousandsofalbumenprintssoldtotouristsromanticanderoticizedversionsofEgyptandtheMiddleEast.Complimentingthisoverall
visualrevolutionwasthedevelopmentin1888byGeorgeEastmanoftheKodakcamera.Anotherinnovationwasin1894whenworldwidepostal
regulationsacceptedforthefirsttimewhatwenowknowasthepicturepostcard.Developingtouristnegativesandthesellingofpostcardswith
theirstudiosworkbecamepartoftheoveralldailybusinessoftheZangakisbrothers.

In1870theZangakisbrothersopenedtheirstudioinPortSaid,sellingtheirimagestotheseeminglyendlessflowofWesterntourists.Sowhilethe
Zangakisbrotherswerenottheonlycommercialphotographersonthescenetheirlivesandcareersaddnotonlytoourunderstandingofthe
commercializationofphotographyinlateNineteenthCenturyEgyptbutalsointothedevelopmentandpopularityamongtheWesterntouristonthe
growingromanticismdepictedintheseimages.

TheZangakisbrotherswhilemaintainingtheirPortSaidstudiosoonbegantotraveltheNiletoUpperEgypttophotographantiquitiesandthelifeof
thecountryside.TheWesterntouristswerelookingforphotographsofEgyptianantiquitiestouseassouvenirstomaptheirtravels.Consequently
theZangakisbrothersbegantosystematicallytakephotographsofthepyramids(e.g.CheopsandtheSphinx)andthecities(e.g.Luxor,Suez,
Alexandriaandsoon)aswellofEgyptiansgoingabouttheirdailylives(e.g.ateacherandpupils,menbytheNile,orwomenathome).The
methodbywhichthiswasdoneisalsounique.Ascanbeseeninseveraloftheirphotographsthebrothersoutfittedatruckasaportable
storeroom/darkroomwiththenameAdelphoiZangakis(inEnglishandArabic)inlargelettersonthetruckbody.

By1880,theZangakisbrotherstraveledtoJerusalemrealizingtheimportanceofthiscityandallthevarioussitesoftheHolyLandinPalestinefor
WesternTourists.Around1895theyopenedastudioinCairokeepingthembothopenandoperatinguntilGeorgiosdeathwhenConstantinesold
thePortSaidstudio.AccordingtoXanthakisinvestigations,ConstantinealsosoonsoldalargepartoftheZangakisnegativestotwodifferentlocal
commercialphotographersP.Peridis(yetanotherlocalGreekphotographeractiveca.18901905)andHippolyteArnoux(activeca.1860ca.
1890)aFrenchbornphotographerandpublisher.

Xanthakisongoingresearchclearsupsomelongstandingconfusionastowhotooksomeofthesenowclassicphotographs.AsDr.Nikos
Kokkinos,WingateScholarandResearchFellowattheDepartmentofHebrewandJewishStudiesatUniversityCollege,London,notedsome
yearsagoSomephotosoftheSuezCanaltakenbyArnoux,particularlythosedepictinglocationssouthofPortSaid,weretobefoundlaterwith
thenamesoftheZangakisBrosorPeridis&Georgiladakisattached.IimaginethattheGreekphotographerssomehowinheritedthenegativesof
Arnoux.Or,possibly,theyworkedforArnouxbeforetheystartedtheirownbusinesses(inPortSaidandlaterCairo),andthattheymayevenhave
takenthephotographsthemselvesinthefirstplaceonbehalfofArnoux.Unfortunatelywedonotknowmuchabouttheirrelationshipsorexact
dates(http://www.vintageragtrader.com20100826).AswenowknowthesituationwascompletelythereverseandtheoriginalZangakisbrother
imagesweretakenbyPeridisandArnouxandissuedundertheirnames.

AfterGeorgiosZangakisdeathConstantinoschangedthefocusofhisstudio.RecognizingtheculturalchangesaroundhimConstantinecentered
allhisenergiesontheproductionofpostcardsuntilhisdeathin1916.WithhisdeaththeZangakisCairostudioclosed.Addingyetanotherlayerof
confusionontheZangakisbrotherphotographswasthefactthatawidearrayofthepostcardnegativesweresoldtoothercommercialCairo
photographerswhosubsequentlylistedthemundertheirstudionames.

TheZangakisbrotherswerelargelyunknowninGreeceduringtheirlifetimeduetothefactthattheysimplyneverbotheredtoexhibitanyoftheir
photographicworkswithotherGreekphotographers.ThisisindirectoppositiontothestandingtheZangakisBrothershavewithhistoriansofthe
NearandMiddleEast.Theirphotographsoflate19thcenturyEgyptandtheNearEastarehighlyprizedbyhistoriansandcollectorsfortheir
insightsintolifeatthetime.Amerelistingofthecities/locationsinwhichafractionoftheirphotographsweretakenunderscoresthispoint
Memphis,Nubia,Thebes,Karnak,AssouanAbydos,Denderah,Thebes,Luxor,Jerusalem,Philae,Bethlehem,Jaffa,CairoandPortSaid.

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11/4/2017 TheZangakisBrothers19CenturyOrient'sPhotographersTheNationalHerald

TheZangakisbrotherswerealsoverymuchindividualsoftheirtimeandplace.Whilemanyoftheirphotographsarenowrecognizedasoneofkind
renditionsofplacessuchastheGreatPyramidsofGizaorJerusalemsDamascusGate.Otheroftheirimagesareclearlyinformedbyideasof
whattheOrientals,asthepeopleoftheNearandMiddleEastwerethencalledbyWesterntourists,weresupposedtolooklike.Consequently,
variousZangakisphotographsarequiteeasilyrecognizable,evenwhenunsigned,ifonlyforthestiff,artificialposesandfixedstaresoftheir
subjects.Theemphasisoftheseportraitsisfirmlyoncompositionratherthanpsychologicalinsight.Theirgenrestudiesofpicturesquelocalswere
aimedprincipallyatthetouristmarket.Theirworkalsoprovedpopularwiththosewhoweredisinclinedtotravelbutwereneverthelesseagerfor
imagesthatheldnoveltyandcuriosityvalue.

JohnHannavyinhisentryontheZangakisbrothersintheEncyclopediaofNineteenthCenturyPhotography(London,Routledge2008)
emphasizesthehistoricalandartisticimportanceoftheZangakisbrothersbyobservingthatamongthefinestimagesevertakenbythebrothers
includethosetakenafterthebombardmentofAlexandriain1882andsomeeloquentcommentariesontheGrandTourofEgyptinthe1880s.

UnquestionablymoreresearchneedstobeconductedonthelivesandcareersoftheZangakisbrothers.Itisanundisputedfactofhistorythatthe
dailylaborsofGeorgiosandConstantinosZangakisnotonlypreservedtheworldaroundthemviathenewtechnologyofphotographybutthattheir
studiedimagesarenowrecognizedasartisticrenderingsofwhattheyfirstwitnessedthroughthelensoftheircameras.

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