Josephine Powell facts for kids
Josephine Powell (May 15, 1919 – January 19, 2007) was an amazing American photographer and traveler. She also loved collecting old and unique items, especially textiles from a region called Anatolia (modern-day Turkey).
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Her Early Life and Education
Josephine Powell was born in New York City in 1919. Her family was quite well-off. She went to Cornell University and earned a degree called a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1941. This is like a first university degree.
Later, she got a Master's degree from Columbia University in 1945. A Master's degree is a higher-level degree. After finishing school, Josephine left the United States. She started working for an organization called the International Refugee Organization (IRO). This group helped people who had to leave their homes.
Her Incredible Journeys
Josephine's first jobs were in Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania) and Munich, Germany. While in Munich, she bought two cameras: a Leica and a Rolleiflex. She thought they were beautiful objects at first.
After two years, she started taking photos just for fun. She quickly became very good at it! Her interest in the amazing buildings and places she photographed led her to become an architectural photographer.
From 1952 to 1975, Josephine traveled a lot. She drove her car, rode horses, and sometimes even had her dog with her. She visited many countries, taking pictures of old monuments, ancient sites, and interesting cultural items. She also photographed museum collections.
She explored places like Afghanistan, North Africa, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Nepal, Russia, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. During these trips, she collected many unique objects. Some of these items are now in museums like the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam.
Josephine's photographs were very popular. They appeared in over 150 books and scientific papers. Her pictures of buildings were featured in important books like Architecture of the Islamic World.
Life in Turkey and Kilims
In 1973, Josephine moved to Istanbul, Turkey. She got a special job to create a book about Turkish kilims. Kilims are beautiful, flat-woven rugs without a pile.
Josephine became very interested in Anatolian kilims and the people who made them. For years, she followed semi-nomadic groups in her VW Caravan. She documented their daily lives, especially how they made textiles. She also photographed kilims in villages and village mosques.
She worked with a person named Harald Böhmer. They studied the natural dyes used to create the colors in old textiles. Together, they started the DOBAG Carpet Initiative in Turkey. This project helped weavers use natural dyes and old weaving methods to make new carpets. It helped younger people learn these traditions and find markets to sell their work.
Before she passed away in 2007, Josephine donated much of her Turkish collection to the Vehbi Koç Foundation. This included thousands of her photographs and notes. These are now part of Koç University's Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations.
Her amazing collection of artifacts and textiles is now at the Sadberk Hanım Museum in Büyükdere, Istanbul. She also donated about 20,000 other photographs from her travels to Harvard University in 2002.
Josephine Powell died at her home in Istanbul on January 19, 2007, at the age of 87. She is buried in the Feriköy Protestant Cemetery in Istanbul.
Exhibitions of Her Work
- 2012: An exhibit called "What Josephine Saw" opened at Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations in Istanbul. It showed rare video of Josephine Powell from an interview she did in 2006.
