“Palestine in Black in White” @ Zara Gallery
October 13 – October 25, 2016
ELIA KAHVEDJIAN
Born in 1910, in Ourfa, Turkey.
During the Armenian Genocide, perpetuated by the Turks in 1915 Elia loses his family at age 5 – both his parents, five brothers, three sisters, uncles and aunts. After 18 years, he finds one of his sisters.
Many Armenian children became orphans, and experience homelessness, slavery, and near death experiences before the American Near East Relief Foundation gathered tens of thousands of Armenian orphans, and took them first to Lebanon and then to Palestine. Elia was one of those orphans.
Since childhood, Elia had wanted to become a photographer. While living in an orphanage in Nazareth, he had assisted one of his teachers who was also a photographer. When he came to Jerusalem, he was fascinated by the historical places, landscapes, and characters. It was through this relocation that he decided to devote himself to photography, and he eventually took over a well-known photography shop.
Elia started taking pictures from 1924, while also accumulating a collection of more than 2500 photos dating back to 1860.
Elia Kahvedjian passed away on April 13th 1999 leaving behind a legacy that made his family, and anybody who saw his pictures, proud.
Written by Rozine Kuftedjian, Elia’s granddaughter