Elisa Pante Zonaro (1863–1945) was an Italian photographer, who worked in the Ottoman capital from the late nineteenth century onwards. Soon after studying photography in Paris with Eugène Pirou from 1893 to 1894, Elisa Zonaro opened her own professional studio called Atelier Elsa in Istanbul, which was an exceptional accomplishment for a woman at the time. From portraits to street photography, her extant works display variety and reveal her experimentality as a visual artist. Furthermore, being married to Fausto Zonaro, the illustrious court painter of Sultan Abdülhamid II (r. 1876–1909), she often collaborated with her husband in various projects and had privileged access to an elite social network with her camera. The Zonaro couple advanced each other’s careers socially and created artworks together, yet the scholarship has, until recently, regarded Elisa Zonaro as merely a muse and helper to her husband. This presentation focuses on the latest archival research, which led to a dissertation and an exhibition spotlighting Elisa Zonaro’s career in photography, and discusses how the camera served as a creative means of female empowerment and visual expression.
Issue 67, December 2024
Beauty in the Wilderness
