Written by Lousia Steijger
Content Warning: This post contains discussions of war, death, violence, and destruction.
Photography played a pivotal role in documenting the Armenian Genocide, an atrocity orchestrated by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923, with varying intensity of persecution, that resulted in the deaths of over c.1.2 million Armenians. This campaign of extermination, carried out through mass killings, forced deportations, and systematic starvation, marked one of the earliest large-scale genocides of the twentieth century. Despite the Ottoman regime’s concerted efforts to conceal their actions, photography emerged as a powerful tool in exposing the horrors of the genocide to the world.
The Armenian Genocide holds a significant place in the history of international law and human rights. The term ‘genocide’ itself and its subsequent codification in legal frameworks can trace their roots to the atrocities committed against Armenians. Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer who coined the term in 1944 in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, drew direct inspiration from early reports of the Armenian massacres. Lemkin, who would later champion the United Nations’ adoption of the Genocide Convention in 1948, repeatedly cited his exposure to accounts of Ottoman crimes as formative in shaping his belief in the necessity of legal protections for groups targeted for destruction. Genocide, as defined by this convention, is an act committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The formal recognition of genocide as a crime on 9 December 1948 remains a legacy of the Armenian tragedy, underscoring the broader implications of the events of 1915–1918 for global human rights.
The Armenian Genocide cannot be fully understood without considering its historical context. Armenians, a Christian minority in the predominantly Muslim Ottoman Empire, had long faced institutionalised discrimination and periodic outbreaks of violence. As the Ottoman Empire entered a period of decline during the nineteenth century, nationalist ideologies began to flourish among its ruling elite. Armenians, with their distinct religious and cultural identity, became increasingly viewed as outsiders, as the Ottomans sought to establish an ethnically homogenous society. Efforts by Armenian leaders to advocate for political reform and equal rights were met with suspicion and hostility. The Empire’s territorial losses during the Balkan Wars of the early twentieth century and its growing paranoia over internal dissent further exacerbated this distrust. When the Ottoman Empire joined the First World War in 1914, Armenians were accused of collaboration with the Russian enemy and blamed for military defeats and failures, providing the pretext for their systematic targeting. This context of political and social instability laid the groundwork for what became a calculated and devastating campaign of extermination. When the genocide began in April 1915, it was characterised by swift and brutal measures. Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) were rounded up and executed, effectively silencing the voices of resistance. From there, the genocide expanded to encompass the entire Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. Men were executed en masse, while women, children, and the elderly were subjected to death marches into the Syrian desert. Along the way, deportees faced starvation, disease, and relentless violence. By the campaign’s end, the Armenian population had been reduced to a fraction of its former size.
Photography, a relatively recent technological innovation at the time with the creation of the Kodak, a portable camera in 1888, became an essential means of documenting these atrocities. While the Ottoman authorities sought to suppress photographic evidence of their crimes, several individuals managed to capture images that bore witness to the genocide. These photographs, taken by foreign missionaries, diplomats, and aid workers, offered an unflinching record of the suffering inflicted upon the Armenian people. Many of the images depict scenes of unimaginable devastation: emaciated survivors, orphaned children, and the remains of those who died along the deportation routes. The risks faced by those who documented the genocide were immense. Ottoman authorities were acutely aware of the potential for photography to undermine their attempts at denial and suppression. Cameras were confiscated, photographs were destroyed, and individuals found documenting the atrocities faced imprisonment or worse. Among the most notable contributors to this visual archive was Armin T. Wegner, a German soldier and medic stationed in the Baghdad during the war. Wegner’s photographs, taken covertly at great personal risk, documented the horrors faced by Armenian refugees and deportees. His images include stark portrayals of mass graves, dying children, and families reduced to despair. These photographs, smuggled out of the empire via diplomatic channels, became some of the most iconic visual records of the Armenian Genocide. However, in 1916 a letter for his mother detailing the poor conditions Armenians were forced to live in was intercepted by the Turkish government who had uncovered his covert mail routes. Wegner faced punishment and was reassigned to the cholera wards in Constantinople. Wegner’s work ultimately, demonstrated the power of photography to challenge official narratives and bring attention to hidden atrocities.
In addition to the efforts of individuals like Wegner, organised humanitarian responses also utilised photography as a means of raising awareness and generating support. The Near East Relief (NER), a US Protestant missionary-led organisation, spearheaded relief efforts for Armenian survivors during and after the genocide. From 1918 onwards, NER workers and photographers captured thousands of images depicting the aftermath of the genocide. These photographs, while often more staged and constructed than those taken during the genocide itself, were no less impactful. Images of orphaned children, overcrowded refugee camps, and malnourished survivors were disseminated widely in newspapers, magazines, and fundraising posters. The NER’s campaigns, bolstered by these photographs, raised over $100 million to provide food, shelter, and medical care to Armenian refugees.
The use of photography during the Armenian Genocide highlights not only its documentary value but also its ability to catalyse humanitarian action. The images taken during this period shocked international audiences and brought the suffering of the Armenians to global attention. For many viewers, these photographs offered irrefutable evidence of the atrocities committed by the Ottoman regime. They complemented written accounts from missionaries and diplomats, making it increasingly difficult for governments and individuals to dismiss the scale of the violence. Furthermore, the photographs taken during the genocide have since become central to the struggle for recognition and justice. Although successive Turkish governments have continued to deny the events of 1915–1918 as genocide, the visual documentation of these crimes remains a powerful counterpoint to such denials. These images, preserved in archives, museums, and educational materials, ensure that the atrocities committed against the Armenians are not forgotten.
Bibliography
Featured Image Credit: The Story of Near East Relief (1930) by James Barton via Wiki Commons.
Balakian P. Photography, Visual Culture, and the Armenian Genocide. In: Fehrenbach H, Rodogno D, eds. Humanitarian Photography: A History. Human Rights in History. Cambridge University Press; 2015:89-114.
Akçam, Taner. The Young Turks’ Crime against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012.
Bloxham, Donald. The Great Game of Genocide: Imperialism, Nationalism and the Destruction of the Ottoman Armenians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Falk, Richard. ‘The Armenian Genocide in Official Turkish Records,’ Journal of Political and Military Sociology 22, no. 1 (1997).
Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. London: Penguin Books, 2013.
Linfield, Susie. The Cruel Radiance: Photography and Political Violence. Chicago, 2010.
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