In 1909 the millionaire French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn embarked on an ambitious project to create a color photographic record of, and for, the peoples of the world.
As an idealist and an internationalist, Kahn believed that he could use the new Autochrome process, the world’s first user-friendly, true-colour photographic system, to promote cross-cultural peace and understanding.
Until recently, Kahn’s huge collection of 72,000 Autochromes remained relatively unheard of.
Now, a century after he launched his project, this book and the BBC TV series it accompanies are bringing these dazzling pictures to a mass audience for the first time and putting color into what we tend to think of as an entirely monochrome age.
Kahn sent photographers to more than 50 countries (including Macedonia), often at crucial junctures in their history, when age-old cultures were on the brink of being changed forever by war and the march of twentieth-century globalization. They documented in true color the collapse of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, the last traditional Celtic villages in Ireland, and the soldiers of the First World War.
In Macedonia the photographers August León and Jean Brin were sent in 1912-1913.
The photos in this article are excerpt from the publication: Macedonia in 1913 –
Autochromes from the collection of the Museum Albert Khan / Organizers:
Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia, Museum of the City of Skopje, Museum Albert Khan, French Cultural Center from Skopje, Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and National Museum Ohrid, Institute for Protection of Monuments of Culture. Museum and Gallery Bitola, French Alliance from Bitola
Skopje
Skopje
The main entrance of Kursumli-an (leaded khan), one of Skopje’s many caravanserais, built around the middle of the 16th century by Mula Musledin Hodja, son of Abdul Gani. Before the Second World War (in 1925) it was transformed into a lapidary section of the Archaeological Museum, a function it still retains today. On both sides of the entrance there are rows of shops with characteristic wooden shutters for the shops of the former Skopje shopping district.
Perspective on an alley of the old shopping district. In the background, the mosque of Mustafa Pasha (15th century), photographed on the southeast side. In the foreground, an open type shoemaker shop. Instead of walls, the shop has shutters that are closed and opened as needed. The alley is paved with stones, with a gutter in the middle.
Middle-class houses and an alley of the former Skopje shopping district. The houses have wooden grilles on the windows, which is a characteristic of Turkish houses. They are built in uncooked brick.
In the background, we see the mosque of Sultan Murad (still called Hunkar), preserved until today. The Sultan Murad Mosque was built in 1436 by Murad II, the father of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, and is the work of Master Hussein of the city of Debar.
It was rebuilt several times, at the time of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, that of Sultan Ahmed III, etc. The last reconstruction took place in 1912, with the financial support of the Sultan.
It was built in the style of Bursa (Bush) but since then has undergone innumerable changes. On the north-west side, there is a four-column porch, whose aesthetically decorated capitals are linked by arches. The base of the building is square.
On this site, we find nowadays individual houses of the residential part of the district of Bit-bazaar.
Perspective on an alley on the left of the entrance of Kursumli-an, with a hammam now in ruins. The alley is paved with stones. The shops are leaned against the walls of the hammam. They are built in raw bricks. The photograph shows the shops of a tinsmith and a tailer. In the background, we can see the south-east side of Hammam Gurciler.
The Hammam Gurciler (also known as Sengul) was built in the second half of the 15th century and formed an ensemble with the Kursumli-an (on its south-west side) and the Kazandjiler Mosque. It was Musledin Hodja who had it built. It served as a hammam until the great fire of 1689. It was known as kuri-hammam (dry bath). The 1963 earthquake destroyed it completely. The hammam is characteristic of Islamic buildings. Its cupola is covered with tiles. Today, this space is part of the courtyard of the Macedonian Museum.
Skopje
Porch of the complex of the Monastery of St. Savior, which is close to the citadel of Skopje. The St Savior (Holy Savior) church was built in the middle of the 16th century on the foundations of an old church. It houses a precious carved wooden iconostasis, work of famous “Mijak” engravers – Petre Filipovski-Garkata of the village of Galicnik (in the region of Debar) and his companions, his brother Marko and Makarie Frckovski. The iconostasis was created thanks to the donations of the craft guilds and merchants of Skopje. It was completed in six years (from 1819 to 1824). The church has three naves. The central nave is vaulted, and the two side aisles are covered with a wooden ceiling.
Burmali Mosque. The facade of the mosque of Isak-bey, with a porch with five arches and five cupolas. The mosque is preceded by a courtyard surrounded by a wall, in front of which traders sell various goods. The mosque was built in 1475 by Isak-bey, in the style of the imperial mosques of Istanbul. The domed construction covered with lead is very interesting.
Skopje
Ancient plane tree on the edge of Vardar, the river that crosses Skopje and divides it into two parts. The plane tree is near the Stone Bridge.
Stone bowls next to Vardar River in which the village skinners tanned the skins by trampling on them. The tannery was located on the left bank of Vardar.
Skopje
A storage where the leather was dried and which was one of the many leather storages on the left bank of Vardar River, above the old slaughterhouse and the military hospital. The city of Skopje was once a very developed center of leathercraft.
Macedonian Orthodox family from the village of Bunardjik, located in the Skopska Blatija, twelve or thirteen kilometers east of Skopje. The whole family is dressed in the characteristic clothes of Blatija.
Skopje
Two women from the Skopska Crna Gora (mountain area, about ten kilometers northwest of Skopje) sell mats. They wear the traditional dress of this region.
Two women from the Skopska Crna Gora mountain region, about ten kilometers northwest of Skopje. They are dressed in the traditional dress of this region.
Skopje
Young tradesman with a fez on his head. Photo taken in the old bazaar of Skopje.
Camp of the Serbian army in the suburbs of the city. The photograph shows a panoramic view of Skopska Crna Gora. The photo is taken from the south side of the city.
Bitola
Bitola
Buildings and shops on the former “Sheep market”, near the Deboj hammam and the mosques of Gazi Hajdar and Sungur Chaush, the oldest mosque in the Balkans, built in 1434-35 and destroyed in 1956.
Jewish woman in Bitola dressed in the European clothing with a characteristic hat.
The Jewish ghetto of Bitola known as Jaudihanata (the Jewish Quarter), which was located in the current center of the city. The houses made of stone, clay and wood had only one floor.
A shop window of a shop for selling lemonades and other refreshing drinks. It is part of the Bitola market built by Turks and Jews in the 16th century.
Bitola
Interior of Il Kar Aragon Synagogue in Bitola, built around the middle or the end of the sixteenth century. It was destroyed during the Second World War.
Old Sephardic Jew, leader of the brotherhood “Hevra Nadish” whose concern was to bury the poor and the deceased without family. His clothes are traditional, with a characteristic cap in red serge.
Sephardic Jewish women in their courtyards, dressed in traditional costumes.
Bitola
The Jewish ghetto of Bitola known as Jaudihanata (the Jewish Quarter), which was located at current center of the city. The houses are made of stone, clay and wood. Jewish family in the courtyard of their house.
Jewish cemeteries at the entrance of Bitola. Used from 1457 to 1929, they have been preserved until today.
The “Broken Mosque” in Bitola. Today, this mosque no longer exists.
Bitola
Street in Bitola with traditional buildings, Turkish and Christian.
View of Bitola from the north-east side, at the site of the Turkish cemeteries, today the Uchici settlement, with the Hajdar Kadi mosque (1561-1562) in the foreground. Also seen are Sungur Chaush, Yeni and Isak Mosques, as well as the Clock Tower.
An elder Turk dressed in traditional Turkish costume consisting of a tunic, waistcoat, trousers, belt, fur coat and fez.
Destroyed houses in the village of Kazani.
Traditional Macedonian costumes, from Smilevo village, which is part of the region named “Mijak”.
Traditional costumes from “Majerovo” region
Ohrid
Ohrid
Part of the Varoch district in Ohrid. In the background, the church of St. Clement (Holy Mary Perybleptos) can be seen.
Samoilova Street in Ohrid
Ohrid
The central street Samoilova in Ohrid, with houses of the late nineteenth century
The Church of St. Sophia which in the sixteenth century was transformed into a mosque and later a depot
The Church of St. Sophia which in the sixteenth century was transformed into a mosque and later a depot
A fresco from Saint Sophia Church.
Ohrid
A boat that was used for fishing, but also for excursions on Lake Ohrid. Since it is equipped with a mobile covered bridge, it is likely that it was prepared for an excursion on the lake. This element was removed when fishing.
The church Holy Mary Perybleptos (St. Clement) – Ohrid
View of Ohrid old town
Ohrid
Varosh neighborhood in Ohrid
A street next to the Saint Sophia church. At the corner of the street there is a house with a tavern on the ground floor. The house dates from the end of the 19th century.
Ohrid
The hotel Thessaloniki or Solun which, among the inhabitants of Ohrid, was known as “Kaj Baba Kata”. Katerina Zarceva was the owner of this hotel built around the end of the 19th century.
A Turkish house in Ohrid
Men in traditional costumes. Their caps allows differentiating between them. Turkish are with red caps, the Albanians with white caps and the Macedonians with the black caps.
Struga
Struga
An oven at the exit of Struga.
Fixed fishing structure for catching eels in the Daljan district.
Struga
A bridge on the Black Drim River. Until November 26, 1915, on this bridge, there were seventeen shops.
Openjca
A terraced house in the Gorna neighboorhood. In the yard are peasant women in traditional costumes. There are also two-wheeled carts for the needs of the property.
Women dressed in everyday folk costumes – village Opejnca.
A house in the Gorna neighborhood. The house is built according to the bondrug technique. The building is made of wood and raw brick with a roof of rye straw.
A traditional orthodox house (a front door) with a corbelling. Two little boys dressed in tunics.
