A small but fine exhibit of vintage photographs from Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon from the late 19th and early 20th centuries is currently on display at the City University of New York Graduate Center. The Center is located at 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street.

Many of the images come from the renowned studios of Armenian photographers working in Constantinople such as Pascal Sebah, J.P. Sebah, Abdullah Freres, Lekegian and Bonfils. Other photographers represented include Zangaki, Arnoux, Beator, Dumas and Lehnert and Landrock.

The exhibit comprises nearly 70 high-quality reproductions of original photographs in the private collection of Dr. Joseph E. Malikian, Ph.D., author of the recent album, The Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: An Anthology and a Photo History (Antelias, Lebanon, 2011).

Many of the photographs are exquisitely crisp and dramatic portrayals of peasants in their daily life against the backdrop of village scenes, mosques and churches in Egypt and Palestine.

The exhibit is been sponsored by, and is located in CUNY’s Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center (Room 6304.24), and will be in place through May 2013.