Probing the Photographic Record

­­­­­­Armenian News Network / Groong Satirical Cartoon Published 120 years today, December 21, 1895, on the cover of the weekly magazine Judge*(New York): Take home lesson* - Money and Profits always trump principles or obligations! Special to Groong by Eugene L. Taylor and Abraham D. Krikorian LONG ISLAND, NY This brief notice deals with a political cartoon published during the height of the Hamidian massacres. It may appear peculiar that it was published a few days before Christmas but that was so and why will become apparent in a moment....

­­­­­­Armenian News Network / Groong Photographic Data from Ordinarily (but not invariably) Authoritative and Richly Illustrated Accounts Can Be Expanded. A case of an incorrectly attested photograph in a 1906 issue of the French journal Le Tour du Monde shows a young Ruth A. Parmelee, her brother Julius and father, Dr. Moses P. Parmelee in Trebizond 1895 at the Time of the Hamidian Massacres! Special to Groong by Abraham D. Krikorian and Eugene L....

­­­­­­Armenian News Network / Groong Dutch ‘Cartoonist’ Louis Raemaekers’ Poster of 1916 entitled “The Lord Mayor London’s Appeal for Help for the Armenian People”: filling in some details, and a call for input as to where ‘Originals’ might be located. Special to Groong by Abraham D. Krikorian and Eugene L. Taylor LONG ISLAND, NY Referring to the 15,000 marks prize that the Kaiser [Wilhelm II] has put on Raemaeker’s head, M....

­­­­­­Armenian News Network / Groong Armenian Master Photographer Kazar Sarkis Melikian Collection and Melikian Photo Studio Work Donated to the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. K.S. Melikian’s Daughter Mary Christine Melikian Passed Away 22 September 2015 (unexpectedly and peacefully) the morning after an “open letter of thanks” to those involved in the project had been completed. Special to Groong by Abraham D. Krikorian and Eugene L. Taylor...

­­­­Armenian News Network / Groong Bringing a Photograph into Clearer Focus: Update to a Library of Congress’ Bain News Service Collection Photo “Armenian Refugees…Date Created/Published: [1920 Dec. 3].” In a quite good German work, which apparently utilized the Armin T. Wegner archives [Nachlasse] and Wegner Photo Copyright holder Wallstein Verlag information, we see a slightly different view of the same scene dated as from autumn of 1915. The caption includes the statement that the “Death rate in these camps was extremely high [Die Todesrate in diesen Lagern war extrem hoch....

A SAD NOTE OF PASSAGE, AND A HAPPY NOTICE OF A MAJOR LEGACY OF PHOTOGRAPHS FOR ARMENIANS AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: Commentary, and a Notice of a Video Posting on You Tube by Taylor and Krikorian entitled “Kazar Sarkis Melikian Studio, Worcester, Mass.” Mary’s father, Kazar Sarkis Melikian, was an important preserver and photographer of Armenian heritage and the Armenian experience – from Kharpert to America. The video was made in 2006 and can be seen at:...

­­­­­Armenian News Network / Groong Correction to a Photograph of “Armenian Widows with their Children” Wrongly Dated 1915. It actually dates from 1909. Plus a comment on why it is important to get an accurate ‘paper trail’ for photographs.**** Special to Groong by Abraham D. Krikorian and Eugene L. Taylor Long Island, NY “Guh Badayee” [Things happen.] “Ahl Chapuh G’antse’nehn” [They exceed the mark.] Normally we pay very little attention to Copyright symbols © since so much of the economically developed world seems nowadays to be ever more deeply embedded in a culture wherein claims to intellectual property rights to trivia and the like abound....

Ninety-three Years ago Today: the fires of Smyrna are still smoldering and not totally out. Reports by credible witnesses are today forgotten. Forceful Witnesses to the Genocide are muted, and the Republic of Turkey issues a boastful stamp in 1972 commemorating the 50th anniversary of the entry of the glorious Turkish Army into Izmir. Special to Groong by Abraham D. Krikorian and Eugene L. Taylor LONG ISLAND, NY It is generally acknowledged that the victors of any given conflict reserve the right in some fashion or other to tell their story most forcefully....

Special to Groong by Abraham D. Krikorian and Eugene L. Taylor LONG ISLAND, NY Our latest posting entitled A Family Photograph from Korpeh, Kharpert, Old Armenia Bears Forceful Witness to the Genocide (http://www.groong.org/orig/ak-20150710.html)has already elicited questions from family and friends about why the maps that included names of the various villages on the Kharpert plain could not have been larger to facilitate more ready examination. We now post five maps that hopefully will be more readily examined....

Special to Groong by Abraham D. Krikorian and Eugene L. Taylor Long Island, NY “Photography discovers, recovers, reclaims, and at unsuspecting moments, collaborates with the creation of what we call history.”[1, Endnotes] Most have heard or read somewhere along the line that the Armenian Genocide is “hotly debated.” We have often wondered why those who supposedly debate this fact so hotly are oftentimes unidentified – ‘the Turks and a handful of their lackeys’ for sure – who else debates it other than those who have an agenda, hidden or otherwise?...