Vintage Photography The Zangaki Brothers

Zangaki Brothers In Egypt

In the world of vintage photography, particularly that of the near and middle east, there are many mysteries. We know very little about the creators of some of the most collectable vintage photographs of the second half of the nineteenth century, because the lives of the photographers Hippolyte Arnoux, Felix Bonfils, Antonio Beato, Pascal Sebah and the Zangaki brothers are so entwined, that perhaps they should be called “The School of Egypt”.

The Zangaki brother’s history is shrouded in a mystery almost as enigmatic as the Sphinx they so loved to photograph. If you enter the term: “Langaki photographer” into Google, you get almost as many results as you would for the term: Zangaki. This is because the Z written in the plates of the Zangaki brother’s photographs has often been mistaken for an L.

Their first names also cause problems. They are believed to be G and C Zangaki. Vintage postcards published in the early twentieth century exist signed: C Zangaki and he is thought to be Constantine Zangaki. His brother was probably George. Search for Zangaki in Wikipedia and you discover it is currently asking for the contribution of an article on an, Adelphoi Zangaki, sometimes mentioned in regard to the brothers. However, the Zangakis famously toured in a horse drawn mobile darkroom and one of their wonderful vintage photographs exists of the Sphinx with the wagon parked beside it. Adelphoi Zangaki (Brothers Zangaki) Photography is clearly written on the back.

At some point the Zangakis shared a studio in Port Said with Hippolyte Arnoux. It isn’t clear when this was, or whose studio it was but examples of vintage photographs by the Zangakis and Arnoux taken in a studio with the same backdrops and props are common.

To further muddy the waters, according to Dr. Nikos Kokkinos, Wingate Scholar and Research Fellow at the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College, London,  – “Some photos of the Suez Canal taken by Arnoux, particularly those depicting locations south of Port-Said, were to be found later with the names of the Zangaki Bros or Peridis & Georgiladakis attached. I imagine that the Greek photographers somehow ‘inherited’ the negatives of Arnoux. Or, possibly, they worked for Arnoux before they started their own businesses (in Port-Said and later Cairo), and that they may even have taken the photographs themselves in the first place on behalf of Arnoux. Unfortunately we do not know much about their relationships or exact dates – but Arnoux must have been the oldest, already working in 1869 in the opening of the Suez Canal. Alternatively, the Greek photographers may have bought the negatives in the open market after the death of Arnoux. This is an area on which I am still gathering information, and bibliography is very thin on the ground.”

I have also found a vintage photograph of the Mohhamet Mosque, Cairo on the net attributed to Felix Bonfils, although it is signed Zangaki, captioned and numbered 180 in the plate. There’s no explanation for this attribution and it will just have to remain a mystery. Which is a shame, because I have an example of this vintage photograph, which I intend to catalogue as Zangaki.

Photographers active in Egypt in the second half of the nineteenth century, based in Cairo, Port Said and Luxor were creating images for the tourists enjoying the Grand Tour. There are very few albums of vintage photography that don’t include the work of the Zangaki brothers. The one thing we do know for sure, is that the Zangaki brothers, working between the 1860s and the 1880s created some of the best know and collectable vintage photographic images of the 19^th century.

Sam Scribbler

Vintage Photography by the Zangaki Brothers currently for sale on this site.

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