Itinerant Photographers
Many old photographs taken in Cyprus during the first half of the 20th Century were taken by itinerant photographers. What is distinct about these photographs, is that most (if not all of them), where taken during a village festival or ‘panayiri’ by a visiting photographer. The clue for me is the backdrop. It is either a large plain sheet or a decorative hanging carpet.
For most Cypriots living in the rural areas, the village festival was perhaps the only opportunity to have their photograph taken with their friends, family or relatives. Very few people in Cyprus at that time owned their own camera or had the time to visit a proper photographic studio in the main towns.
From what I’ve have been told, many of the travelling photographers in Cyprus at that time made it their business to visit the local village festivals in their district. This was a great way for them to earn some extra money. On the morning of the festival (which was usually a saint’s name day) they would turn up with a large medium-format camera, a tripod and a suitcase full of backdrops. They would then set up their outdoor studio in either the main village square (plateia) or outside a church or coffee house (kafenio). Basically, they would choose the location that offered the best natural light and a place to hang their backdrops (sheets).
According to historian Kadir Kaba, these traveling photographers were especially active in Cyprus between 1910 and 1980. They would usually charge their patrons one shilling for two postcard-size photographs.
The camera that was available for this type of portrait photography was usually quite expensive to buy, so many photographers opted to make their own. These custom-made cameras had a special compartment built-into the back which was used to develop the photographs, like a portable darkroom. Inside the body of the camera, there was a tray for the developer chemical and a tray for the fixer chemical. Once the photograph was taken, the photographer would insert his arm through a long sleeve that was attached onto the side of the camera and he would carefully pick up the paper negative with his hand and place it into the developer tray making sure that the chemical covered the entire surface. Once the development was complete, (after a minute or so) the negative would be transferred into the fixer tray to fix the image and to stop the developing process.
This whole in-camera development procedure would take a few minutes and could be monitored through an observation hole located at the top of the camera body. Once the developing process was completed, the negative would be removed from the camera and placed onto an L-shaped stand that was affixed to the front of the camera. The photographer would photograph the developed negative to produce a positive image and then the final photograph would be given to the customer.
My knowledge of this subject is somewhat limited so I am hoping you might be able to share your own knowledge or memories of these traveling photographers.
What do you know about these outdoor village studios?