Ohannes Kurkdjian

Ohannes Kurkdjian on the edge of the Sand Sea (Lautan Pasir) in the Tengger Mountains – circa 1910. Stereophotograph.

Ohannes Kurkdjian (first name sometimes spelled Onnes, Armenian spelling Hovhannes, 1851–1903) was a photographer based in Yerevan, Tiflis, Singapore and then Surabaya during the Dutch East Indies era.

His namesake business (located at Bultzingslowenplein) was the studio Kurkdjian Atelier and later O. Kurkdjian & Co.

Life and work Kurkdjian was born in 1851 in Kyurin (Gürun), a town in the Armenian region that was then part of the Ottoman Empire.

The studio produced a variety of works, ranging from portraits of figures such as Pakubuwana X & Susuhunan of Solo, to photographs of landscapes, buildings, business activities, and trade. Kurkdjian earned income from commissions and royalties on photo albums published for promotional purposes. Many of his works were also printed as postcards.

In 1897, George P. Lewis, a British national, joined as his assistant.

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