Photography in the Ottoman and Mandate Eras

Photography in the Ottoman and Mandate Eras by Dr. Issam Nassar will be held on Saturday, October 10 at 10:00 am PST/1:00 pm EST via Zoom. Register Here!

Many of us have posed portraits and other photographs of our families tucked away in albums, boxes, or family collections. We may also come across historical photographs in books, archives, and on social media that show the people and places where our families once lived. These images can offer important clues about individuals, families, communities, and everyday life. But what do we know about the history of photography in the region itself?

In this presentation, Professor Issam Nassar will discuss his book Camera Palaestina: Photography and Displaced Histories of Palestine and the history of photography during the late Ottoman and Mandate periods, with particular attention to Palestine. He will invite us to consider the photographers, studios, portraits, and photographic collections that documented people and communities during this period. The presentation will also help us think about family photographs not simply as images of individual relatives, but as historical sources that can place family stories within a broader social and historical context.

Dr. Issam Nassar is Professor of History and Chair of the History Program at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar. A historian of the modern Middle East, his work focuses on cultural history and visual culture, particularly photography. He is the author of Camera Palaestina: Photography and Displaced Histories of Palestine, along with numerous other books, articles, and book chapters.