William Earl Betsch photographs of architectural capitals in Istanbul, 1970
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William Betsch created this collection in the summer of 1970 as part of the research for his dissertation: “The History, Production and Distribution of the Late Antique Capital in Constantinople.” It contains 55 rolls of negatives and 1 notebook from his survey of architectural capitals in Istanbul, Turkey. Though Betsch’s original project was to focus on cisterns, he eventually concentrated on capitals. The negatives contain images of architectural features located throughout Istanbul, including the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, Hagia Sophia, and various cisterns. The notebook documents Betsch’s photographic work processes, providing detailed descriptions of both the contents of each negative frame and the way in which he photographed each object. It also includes a number of diagrams that indicate the location of the object he was photographing and the angle at which he took the photograph.
Access and Rights
Access to the collection is by appointment only. Schedule an appointment. All photographs in this collection have been digitized and may be viewed using the "browse photographs" link above.
William Earl Betsch transferred rights to his collection to Dumbarton Oaks. Request images.
Preferred citation: William Earl Betsch photographs of architectural capitals in Istanbul, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, DC.
