Elbrechts Donate Collection of Photographs of Armenian Churches to Armenian Studies Program

Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Advisor

Anne and Richard Elbrecht in front of the walls of the first-century city of Anazarbus, situated below the 12th-13-th century Armenian fortress of Anavarza. Photo: Courtesy Richard Elbrecht

A 1987 vacation to Turkey was the beginning of a twenty-year odyssey that has taken Richard and Anne Elbrecht on what has become a passion – photographing and documenting Armenian churches in the historic homeland of the Armenian people.  As an outcome of their visits with Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies and Director of the Armenian Studies Program, they have decided to donate their archive of 157 photographs, "Churches of Historic Armenia: A Legacy to the World," to the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno, where the photographs will become a permanent part of the Armenian Studies Program Web site, making them available to the world.  Part of the Elbrechts" goal has already been accomplished:  the 157 images have been digitalized at CSU Fresno under the direction of University Photographer, Randy Vaughn-Dotta and will be available soon on the Fresno State web site – armenianstudies.csufresno.edu. 

The Elbrechts' first trip to Turkey included not only the obligatory sights of Istanbul, but also a trip on public buses to the eastern part of the country to see the "real Turkey."  There they chanced upon the magnificent Church of the Holy Cross on Aght'amar Island in Lake Van.  Built in the tenth century by an Armenian King Gagik Ardzruni, the church is an architectural marvel, its exterior walls covered with intricate carvings of scenes from the Bible and Armenian history.  Several hundred miles north of Aght'amar, the Elbrechts visited the medieval Armenian city of Ani, with its world famous cathedral and numerous churches, all in a state of ruin due to recurring earthquakes and human neglect.  Since then, they have visited and photographed churches in Kars, Mren, Dogubayazit, Van, Moks, Diyarbakir, Urfa, Tarsus, Sis, Kayseri, Kharpert, Malatya, Merzifon, Shabin Karahisar, Gireson, Trabzon, and the Oltu-Penek Valley.

Asked why they have devoted so much of their lives to this project, the Elbrechts explained:  "The photographs give meaning to historical accounts, and promote a deeper understanding of the elusive and plaintive history of an extraordinary people and their relationships with the people around them."  The photographs interest people of all ages, including children who ask when and why the churches were built, scholars of art, architecture, and religion, who can see details of church design and decoration not readily available, and Armenians who treasure the images of their historical roots.

The detailed, brightly colored photographs that make up this collection express the reality and spirit of the churches and their natural surroundings.  Almost all were made using a large-format Toyo 45A field camera and 6 x 9 cm color film.  To help achieve a "complete record," church interiors were photographed using extra wide-angle lenses, including a 35-mm Rodenstock Grandagon, a 47 mm Schneider Super-Angulon, and a 75mm Rodenstock Grandagon.  The film Fuji Reala was chosen because of its low contrast and highly saturated color, which facilitates photographing both the unilluminated church interiors and the open skies and surrounding landscapes at the same time.  While some church drums and domes remain intact, many are missing due to earthquakes and vandalism, leaving the interiors open to the sky.  In the case of one tenth-century church – Surb Sarkis at Khtskonk near Ani – the surrounding landscape is visible from inside the church through walls pierced by explosives planted at the four corners in the 1960's.  With the exception of the Armenian church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator in Kayseri, none of the churches are currently functioning as churches. Asked how did this project come about, the Elbrechts explain that on returning from their 1987 vacation, asked themselves whether identifying, locating, and photographing these and other Armenian churches might facilitate their restoration. They began to comb scholarly publications about Armenian church architecture and learned that there were hundreds of Armenian churches still extant in Turkey, some built as early as the seventh century.  Often located atop the highest hill in the area, most were rarely visited.  Someone, they felt, had to document these monuments by photographing them before they disappeared altogether.

Each of the Elbrechts' nine trips has included surprises. Typical were their attempts in 1996 to reach the Armenian churches at Horomos and Mren.  Horomos is located on the Turkish-Armenian border about four miles northeast of Ani.  Relying on roadmaps and the scholarly articles they brought with them, they took an unpaved road, hoping to find a trail that would lead to the church.  At the end of the dirt road stood a military base with a sign reading "DUR" (STOP).  "Tour-ist, tour-ist," they said, hoping to get a friendly response from the officers who came running over to their car.  One of the Turkish officers spoke English.  Horomos, he said, was off limits and could only be reached by helicopter.  But in typical Turkish fashion, he invited the Elbrechts into his office for tea.  It was, he explained, a very lonely posting.  The soldiers weren"t allowed to leave the base, even to go to nearby Kars for a movie.

But could they get to Mren, a seventh-century church located on the border about fifty kilometers southeast of Ani, which some French scholars said was still intact?  The Elbrechts phoned an Armenian friend in Los Angeles who leads tours of Armenians to Turkey and knows Turkey well.  "Hire a taxi," he said.  So the next day, maps in hand, Richard and an obliging taxi ventured south toward Mren. On reaching yet another military roadblock, he was told again that the church was off-limits and reachable only by helicopter.  Returning to the main road, they stopped at a village whose Kurdish chief offered to transport them to the church on a tractor – an offer Richard accepted.  Mounting the tractor and sitting on one of its fenders with one hand on his camera case, the other holding a tripod and gripping the tractor's supporting canopy, Richard endured the 45-minute ride across the desolate terrain of rocks and potholes, reaching Mren in time to take the photographs that are included in this collection.  The resulting photos of Mren – with both drum and dome still intact – made the trip altogether worthwhile.

"At each of the photographed churches, the Turkish and Kurdish villagers who live near the ruins have helped us locate and photograph the churches," the Elbrechts report.  "The villagers usually identify them as Armenian in origin.  They seem to view them as part of their own heritage, and apparently want to care for them, especially those in use as mosques, museums, or barns.  Despite the evidence of vandalism, the major risks to Armenian churches in eastern Anatolia at this time seem to be earthquakes and aging."

As long as time and health permit, the Elbrechts will return to Turkey to photograph the extant churches – almost all of them edifices of majesty and beauty.  Their presence tells the story of the three thousand years of Armenian presence in the lands where Armenian Christianity took root far more accurately and persuasively than might be told by words.  "It is imperative that the government of Turkey with active support from the world allow properly-trained specialists to restore and maintain these monuments – which are indeed Treasures of the World – before they disappear forever."

Anne Elizabeth Elbrecht is a graduate of Wheaton College, University of California Berkeley School of Library Studies, and McGeorge School of Law.  She has just completed a lengthy thesis for a Masters of Art Degree at California State University Sacramento. Her thesis examines the reporting of news in the New York Times and the Missionary Herald about the Armenian Genocide.  Richard A. Elbrecht is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Michigan School of Law.  As an undergraduate, he managed the photographic staff of the Yale Daily News.  Both Elbrechts retired from their positions as staff attorneys for the State of California in 2003.