Lecture | CMGI Brown Bag Seminar
“Burnt Panorama”: Forensics, Photography, and the 1870 Pera Fire In Istanbul
- Date
- Monday 5 February 2024
- Time
- Series
- CMGI Brown Bag Seminars 2023-2024
- Location
-
Johan Huizinga
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden - Room
- Conference room (2.60)
On June 5, 1870, the Pera district of late Ottoman Istanbul experienced the worst disaster of its history when a fire swept through a large part of the town and killed around 3000 people. Seen as foundational event for the district's modern history, as in the case of many other nineteenth-century cities, studies on the fire have almost exclusively focused on post-fire rebuilding efforts, failing to offer a material analysis of the conflagration as an urban and environmental event in itself. Recently discovered photographs of the disaster zone, including two panoramic ones, however, open up a window into the material history of the fire and let us explore the forensic investigation pursued by the insurance agents. This talk is based on a recently published chapter and seeks to receive feedback for further research & publications on the same topic.
Brown Bag Seminars
The CMGI Brown Bag Seminars are lunch-hour informal workshops aimed at fostering discussion and creating an open dialogue between the speakers and the attendees. The monthly seminars are a thematic platform for scholars at every career stage from within and outside the Institute for History. Postdocs and PhD candidates are particularly encouraged to present their work. The seminar series offers researchers a great opportunity to get useful feedback on their current work, unpublished papers or test research ideas. Every member of staff and student is welcome to attend and you can bring your own lunch. There is no need to register in advance.