Portret van een onbekende man in academische toga 1870 - 1920

This portrait of an unknown man in academic dress was produced as a photograph by Guillaume Berggren in Constantinople. Berggren, a Swede, operated a successful commercial photography studio catering to European visitors to the Ottoman Empire in the latter half of the 19th century. This image, like many others in his studio, uses visual cues, such as the man’s formal wear, to create meaning. The sitter is dressed in Western academic regalia, indicating the growing presence of Western educational institutions in Ottoman society at that time, and perhaps suggesting the sitter's affiliation with one. Berggren likely sold these images as exotic mementos or as records of social standing within a changing society. Historical research into the archives of institutions in Constantinople at the time, could shed light on the sitter’s identity, and the role of western institutions at this pivotal moment in Ottoman history.