According to Bahattin Öztuncay, Studio Parnasse was operated by the Armenian photographer Krikor Derarsen (1). Located at 288 on the Grand Rue de Pera of Istanbul, this establishment was in the busy, cosmopolitan area of Istanbul where most of the Armenian and Greek photography studios were located. A great number of carte de visites and cabinet portraits have survived from Derarsen’s studio, testifying to the popularity of his business. However, no photographs of other subjects have surfaced, indicating that this was a strictly by the numbers operation. ‘Parnasse’s’ output is often rudimentary in style and the photographer did not concern himself with more than a faithful representation of his sitters. The studio appears to have closed around the time of the first World War as no later prints have come to light.

Vigen Galstyan, 2014

1)Bahattin Öztuncay, The photographers of Constantinople, vol 1, Aygaz, Istanbul, 2003, pp 326-27.