Levon Boyadjian, Van Leo (1921-2002)
Van Leo, born Levon Boyadjian, is an Egyptian-Armenian photographer who worked from 1940 until 1970s. His photography is considered one of the pivotal stages of photography’s development in Egypt. Leo was born into a middle-class Armenian family who had moved to Cairo in the early 1880s. He turned to photography quite early in his life after dropping out of American University in Cairo. At first, Leon worked as an apprentice to Artinian, the proprietor of Studio Venus, before opening up his first premises at his own house in 1941. He was helped by his older brother Angelo, who would go on to become a renowned photographer in his own right. In 1947, the Boyadjian brothers decided to separate and Leo opened his new premises at Studio Metro. He purchased the portrait studio Metro, located at 7 Fuad I Avenue from Kourken Yegorian for 450 Egyptian pounds – a price that included the equipment and furniture and where he worked until the end of his professional life. Studio Metro would be renamed “Studio Van Leo” by Boyadjian later, in 1955. Meanwhile his brother kept the old “Studio Angelo,” which he eventually moved to Cherif Pasha Street, and then to a different location at Abdel Khalek Tharwat Street. Leo soon achieved popularity in Cairo’s vibrant artistic and bohemian scene. His portraits of Egyptian stars such as Omar Sharif and Loula Sedki were widely distributed in the press and through postcards, making him a well-known brand to an elite clientele. The combination of Hollywood-style glamour, romanticism, sentimentality with electric eroticism, gave Van Leo’s portraits a truly artistic dimension that went beyond the scope of studio portraiture. In fact, each sitter, be it a celebrity or an ordinary citizen was treated in the same way, with the photographer always aiming to find the suitable ‘vision’ for his sitter’s look. Indeed, everyone who came in through the studio’s doors could feel like a star for a moment. Thus each of Van Leo’s portraits is a brilliantly concocted theatrical mask that most likely had little to do with the actual sitter.
Alongside his commercial practice, Van Leo created an enormous body of experimental works. His corpus of self-portraits, created from his 20s to 40s is one of the largest of its kind in the world. This, now famous series, is a stunning gallery of self-reflexive, modernist photography through which the artist explored notions of identity, sexuality and photography itself. Each self-portrait represents a character inspired from films, theatre, crime novels, news and dreams. In their pastiche-like approach they predate Cindy Sherman’s ‘Untitled movie stills’ by some thirty years.
Van Leo’s passion for portrait photography can be traced back to his teenage years, when he was a student at the English Mission College in Cairo’s suburb of Heliopolis. At age 16, he was bored with school work and more interested in sports; however, what the young man became fascinated with was Hollywood postcards which he began collecting. He was drawn to the dramatic side lighting that produced deep shadows, the careful positioning of the hands, the well-chosen props, and the backgrounds, all of which he would later incorporate into his own work.
After completing his secondary studies in 1939, Van Leo enrolled at the American University in Cairo, only to withdraw a year later and resume an apprenticeship at Studio Venus, which he had started the previous summer. By then, he had realized that his future was in photography. The studio owner, Arakel Artinian, was a classical photographer who was fond of Van Leo and saw great potential in him. After three months, Van Leo quit training at Studio Venus. He was optimistic about his prospects, but he needed help. He therefore approached his older brother Angelo and they decided to start a joint venture. In January 1941, they opened a studio in their parents’ living room. To help his sons launch their business, Alexander Boyadjian offered some of the equipment including the mammoth 10×10 inch large format camera, which would remain Van Leo’s primary camera until he retired in 1998. Angelo’s signature appeared on all the prints. It wasn’t until 1947, the last year of the partnership that both brothers signed side-by-side. Despite the separation, Van Leo produced some of his best work while he and Angelo were together.
One of his early customers was super star Rushdy Abaza, who at the time was an aspiring actor with a day job at the Union-Vie French insurance company, located in Van Leo’s building. In need of a portfolio to show directors, Abaza went to Van Leo to have his portrait taken. This picture was Abaza’s ticket to his first minor roles, and when he became a big shot he never forgot the photographer who catapulted him to fame and spread the word.
In spite of ups and downs in his career, which resulted from changes in
Egyptian politics and society and the commercialization of photography,
Van Leo strove to maintain high standards and stay faithful to his art.
During the first decade after 1952, Van Leo managed to keep his business afloat, However, his clientele largely dried out. Out of necessity, the art photographer had to resort to taking passport pictures, and wedding and family portraits.
Although he had to respond to market demands to survive, Van Leo was never motivated by money. His true passion was his art as announced on his business card, which read, “Van Leo-Art Photographer.” He was a stoic who forged his own way by working hard and doing everything himself. He had no secretary to usher in clients, no accountant to maintain the books, no lab assistant to process his film, and not even a studio assistant to change light positions, or lift his heavy wooden studio camera. Clients had to either ring the bell or call for appointments.
On January 24, 1998 Van Leo took his last portrait, which was of photographer Barry Iverson and his wife Nihal. Leo announced the closure of the studio marking the end of an era. In April, 1998, his work was chosen for preservation at the American University in Cairo. Fearing for the future of his negatives and prints, he made the decision at the prompting of a friend and fellow photographer, Barry Iverson, to donate his entire corpus of work and equipment to the Rare Books and Special Collections Library at the American University in Cairo, which today houses “The Van Leo Collection”. In March 2002, Van Leo passed away from a heart attack at his apartment in Cairo at the age of 80.
Some of his works
Egyptian lady, 1949
Ragaa Mohamed Serag, film star, 1953. She was Van Leo’s former studio
assistant and girlfriend who today lives in Cairo’s crowded Shubra
district
Mercedes, cabaret entertainer, 1945
Miss Nelly, Greek dancer, 1946
Miss Iliana, Italian girl, 1950
Miss Zummoroda, film star, 1950
1950
Italian lady, 1950
Italian lady, 1950
Valery van Dool, 1945
European Dancer, 1953
Portrait, 1940s
Italian girl
1940s
Cabaret dancers, Cairo
Nelly Mazloum
Greek lady, 1955
1960s
Zubaida Tharwat
Miss Nadia, Egyptian Teatro beginner actress, 1954
1946
Berlenti Abdul Hamid
Mervat Amin, 1973
Young couple, 1940s. Norbert Schiller Collection, photograph by Angelo and Van Leo
Portrait of a woman in costume, 1940s. Norbert Schiller Collection, photograph by Van Leo
1950s
Hand-coloured portrait of a young woman. c. 1960s.
Woman in red, 1960s
Actor Rushdy Abaza, c. 1950s
The portrait of Rusdy Abaza that got him his first movie role. Circa
late 1940s. Norbert Schiller Collection, photograph by Van Leo
Half-body portrait of a gentleman with both Van Leo and Metro Studio
signed on the print. Circa late 1940s. Norbert Schiller Collection,
photograph by Van Leo
Soldier At The Front, Cairo, 1940s
Portrait of a Ukrainian dancer, Cairo, 1960. American University in Cairo Collection
Half-body portrait of a young woman with both Van Leo and Metro Studio
signed on the print. Circa late 1940s. Norbert Schiller Collection,
photograph by Van Leo
Full-body portrait of a woman in a swimsuit. c. 1950s
Portrait of an allied soldier by brothers Angelo and Van Leo taken at
their studio in the family home at 18 Fuad I Avenue in Cairo. Circa
early 1940s. Patrick Godeau Collection, Photo by Angelo and Van Leo
Portrait of a woman in the U.S. army. c. 1945. American University in Cairo Collection, photograph by Van Leo
Samia Gamal
Wedding party, 1960s. Norbert Schiller Collection
Writer and intellectual Taha Hussein, 1950
Nubar, 1944
Teddy Lane, South African dancer, Cairo, 1945. Leo decided to apply
Vaseline to the cheeks and forehead, and place a black velvet cloth
behind his head to completely darken the background and accentuate the
face
Drury Smith, 1945
Miss Nadia Abdel Wahed, 1959
Madeleine, Parisian striptease dancer, 1961
1950
Czechoslavakian dancers, Cairo, 1946
Cabaret lady, 1953
1950
The last portrait made by Van Leo of Barry Iverson and his wife Nihal
Tamraz. c. 1998. Barry Iverson Collection, photograph by Van Leo
Self-portrait, 1950
Self-portrait, 26 June 1941. The American University in Cairo Collection
Self-portrait, 1942
Self-portrait, 1944
Self-portrait of Van Leo. Circa late 1930s
Van Leo in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, 1955
Van Leo on a balcony. Circa 1970s
A photo Van Leo made of his brother Angelo and dance partner Kay Own
for a show Angelo starred in called Music On Wheels, Cairo, c. 1946. The
American University in Cairo Collection
Angelo and Van Leo's first studio was in the family home at 18 Fuad I
Avenue in Cairo. Circa early 1940s. The American University in Cairo
Collection
Angelo and Van Leo's first studio was inside the family home at 18 Fuad I
Avenue in Cairo. Circa early 1940s. Norbert Schiller Collection,
photograph by Angelo and Van Leo
Van Leo kept the Metro logo on his prints for some time after
purchasing the studio. This is the back side of Rushdy Abaza's portrait.
Circa late 1940s
Outside view of Metro Sudio which Van Leo purchased in 1947 after ending
his business relationship with his brother Angelo. Circa late 1940s,
early 50s. The American University in Cairo Collection
Van Leo (left) and Angelo (right) with ladies at the Cairo cabaret, Helmiyya Palace. Photo Courtesy of Katia Boyadjian
Van Leo (L) standing with his bother Angelo outside Angelo's photo
studio in Paris. Circa late 1950s. The American University in Cairo
Collection. Angelo emigrated to Paris in 1960 with his French wife
Van Leo's notes about film type and photo cropping. c. 1990s. The American University in Cairo Collection
Van
Leo's business, which he gave to the Austrian photographer Josef
Polleross in the early 1990s (c. 1996) when he first met him at his
studio. Norbert Schiller Collection
Self-portrait, 1997. Photo Courtesy of Katia Boyadjian
Van Leo holding a photo of Miss Nadia Abdel Wahed, Cairo, 1997. Photo Courtesy of Katia Boyadjian
Van Leo beside his treasured camera. Circa 1996
Van Leo adjusting the pose of David Miles during a photo shoot with him
and his wife Helen. Circa January 1996. Photographs by Josef Polleross
David Miles takes a cigarette break while Van Leo adjusts his camera during the photo session. Circa January 1996
Van Leo walking back to the camera during a photo shoot with Helen
Van Leo adjusting the lighting on Helen
Van Leo adjusting Helen Miles' pose
David and Helen Miles pose while Van Leo takes their photo
Van Leo poses for Josef Polleross. c. 1996
Van Leo retouching one of his prints. c.1996. Photo by Josef Polleross
Full body portrait of Van Leo. c. 2001. Photograph by Barry Iverson
Van Leo at Cairo's Townhouse Gallery after he received the prestigious
Prince Claus award, 2000. The American University in Cairo Collection
Database of Armenian Photo-Media Practitioners.
Photorientalist.
John Zada.
Norbert Schiller Collection, Arab Image Foundation, The American University in Cairo Collection, Steliano Ponticos, Josef Polleross, Barry Iverson and Katia Boyadjian
