Bio

Garo Nalbandian

1943–

December 17, 2025

Garo Nalbandian is one of the most renowned photographers of Jerusalem. He is known for his striking shots of the different religions and places of the city, which he has dedicated most of his life to capturing.

Early Years

Garo Nalbandian was born in Jerusalem on May 28, 1943. He is the son of Armenian genocide survivors. When his father, Hovsep, was a child in the 1920s, he and his little sister arrived from what is considered today Western Armenia (Turkey) through Aleppo and into Jerusalem. Nalbandian’s father, who was a child at the time, saw his own mother get killed in front of his eyes. Three decades later, he found out that his three-year-old brother had also been killed during the genocide.

Hovsep’s life was far from easy, as he lived through the tumultuous changes on the ground, including the 1948 Nakba; however, he somehow managed to raise his own large family. They lived in a tiny room in the monastery of the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Jerusalem, 11 family members all crammed in there for almost five years, while Hovsep worked as an ironsmith. The family was aided by the Lisbon-based Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, which was founded in 1956 to improve people’s quality of life through art, charity, science, and education in Portuguese-speaking African countries and East Timor, as well as in countries with Armenian communities. The foundation assisted Armenian and Palestinian refugees at that time.

Garo Nalbandian, 1990s

Credit:

Courtesy of Photo Garo Nalbandian

Nalbandian attended the St. Tarkmanchatz Armenian School (also in the St. James Monastery inside the Old City of Jerusalem), but he did not manage to graduate from high school. Every summer, he looked forward to the three-month vacation to seize the opportunity to work and make money. Growing up poor, he anticipated working to buy himself a decent pair of shoes or a piece of lahmajoon (spiced flatbread topped with minced meat and vegetables) whose scent reached him, but whose taste was often beyond his means.

Poverty, political turmoil, and overcrowded classrooms, with sometimes up to 65 students, created an environment that was far from ideal for learning. Being a tall child, Nalbandian was often seated by his teachers in the back row, which made it even harder for him to focus or take lessons seriously. Due to his academic struggles, he was soon transferred to an Islamic school near Bab al-Amud that opened in 1947. The memory of himself as an Armenian non-Muslim boy sitting on the floor and reciting the holy Quran and exegesis with a noticeable accent brings a smile to Nalbandian’s face. “I didn’t like studying,” he often mentions, “but I was always interested in knowledge and learning.”1

By the age of 11, Nalbandian quit school altogether and embarked on his professional journey. Due to summer vacations, he worked several jobs at that tender age: goldsmithery, lace-making, shoemaking, coffeemaking, carpentry, printing press, jewelry, and watch-fixing. Among other things, he enjoyed learning how to dismantle and carefully reassemble a watch, but, ultimately, the job he set his eyes on was to take photographs.

The Child Who Became a Photographer

When Nalbandian was barely 12, he started to work full-time at an Armenian photo studio in Jerusalem, but he did not receive any income from this job. After a couple of weeks, and then a couple of months, he became exasperated and expressed to his father—who himself was in dire need of money—that his supervisor was not paying him his wages. His father told him to keep his eyes open and to learn as much as he could of the craft of photography.

His father told him to keep his eyes open and to learn as much as he could of the craft of photography.

With his father’s words in mind, Nalbandian spent the next year and a half working for free, mostly cleaning and running errands. Fearing competition, other photographers did not offer him any mentoring, but he made sure to learn as much as he could through careful (and unobtrusive) observation. He taught himself by watching, while asking his customers many questions and learning about the details of cameras, including reassembling them and processing films.

In 1956, when Nalbandian was 13, two men from the Palestinian newspaper Jaridat Falastin asked his boss for a task that didn’t have any assigned photographers. His coworkers, some of whom made up to 17 Jordanian dinars (about $24) a month (a decent pay at the time), while he wasn’t paid at all, were nowhere to be found. Nalbandian pleaded with his boss; promising that he could handle the camera and successfully complete the task. Seeing him so confident and determined, the two men convinced his boss to assign him for the task (still without pay).

It turned out that this assignment was for the landing of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld on May 1956 at the Jerusalem International Airport in Qalandiya. Important guests, governors, mayors, and officials were standing next to the UN plane to welcome him upon his arrival. Over 10 photographers—including Nalbandian—were snatching photos of the important moment. Suddenly, Hammarskjöld walked past everyone and raised his hands toward Nalbandian. “Excuse me,” he exclaimed, “Who are you?!”

“Photographer,” Nalbandian replied.

“For whom?”2 Hammarskjöld asked, still stunned.

“For a newspaper,” Nalbandian, who dreaded to speak in English, managed to say confidently.

“My God,” Hammarskjöld was flabbergasted, “It’s the first time I see this in my life. Such a young boy! How good are your photos going?” he asked, to which Nalbandian managed to reply: “For sure you will see in the newspaper tomorrow.” Nalbandian’s photos were indeed published the day after, and he started to finally get paid for his work.

He soon began to work at Photo Roxy in the Old City, alongside noted Palestinian photographers such as Hanna Safieh. Soon after, he began to work with his family. After all, it was not only Nalbandian who was a skilled photographer, but his brothers too.

Video Five Minutes from Home

Jerusalem International Airport, once a gateway for an open region to the world, offers a study in sharp contrasts to the area’s present closure regime.

The Studios Garo

In 1952, Garo and his brother Mardo established “Photo Garo” studio on Salah al-Din Street in Jerusalem. This studio achieved great success and helped Nalbandian establish his name and reputation as a photographer. The studio still exists today.

Nalbandian’s two other brothers, the late Anton and Dikran, also became distinguished photographers.

In 1980, Nalbandian opened his own studio, also called “Photo Garo Nalbandian,” on al-Zahra Street. He continues to manage it today along with his wife, Ruth, and their elder son, Hovsep.

Bio Hanna Safieh

Among the first Jerusalemites to use a camera professionally to document key historical events as well as everyday life in pre-1948 Palestine and beyond

Garo Nalbandian’s studio, “Photo Garo,” which his wife and son help him manage, Jerusalem, 1980s

Photographer Garo Nalbandian’s studio, “Photo Garo,” on al-Zahra Street in Jerusalem, which his wife, Ruth, and son Hovsep help him manage, 1980

Credit:

Courtesy of Photo Garo Nalbandian

Patriarchs, Kings, and Popes—among Others

Nalbandian notably witnessed and captured significant moments in the history of Jerusalem, including Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei’s visit in December 1960, which garnered widespread attention for strengthening the Russian Orthodox Church’s global standing and engagement in interchurch dialogue. Nalbandian had become an expert in color processing and captured the landmark moment in 1964 with the meeting of Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI, the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches in centuries. He also managed to help the Greek Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem’s senior bishop, Metropolitan of the First Throne, Metropolis of Caesaria Vasilios Blastso, by providing him with colored film slides for the camera, which produced higher quality results when capturing images. Nalbandian was soon designated a trusted photographer for the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox Churches, as well as the Armenian Patriarchate. He was also the official photographer for the Catholic Custody of the Holy Land.

Nalbandian has been entrusted by officials from various denominations and different political and religious groups with his photography. He has also worked closely with Jerusalem’s Waqf Council and Jordan’s Department of Religious Antiquities.

Professor Kamel al-Sharif, secretary-general of the International Islamic Council for Da‘wa and Relief, Cairo, always insisted that Nalbandian be the only photographer permitted to attend the Islamic Council’s meetings. The reasoning for his trust was that “Garo is so engrossed in his work; he doesn’t listen to the meetings.”3 Nalbandian’s reputation for discretion and maintaining confidentiality has been a great benefit for him, opening assignments within religious and political settings, weddings, and private homes in conservative settings in Jerusalem.

Among the celebrated personalities whom Nalbandian personally photographed were the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, the late US president Jimmy Carter (and his sister Ruth Carter Stapleton), the late king Hussein of Jordan, and the late prime minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi. Nalbandian was also the official photographer for four of the distinguished popes of the Catholic Church: Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis.

Nalbandian notably witnessed and captured significant moments in the history of Jerusalem.

Love for Jerusalem, and Armenian Legacy through Photographs

George P. Hunt, an American journalist and editor of Time Inc., the publisher of Life magazine and under whose editorship in the 1960s, Life’s circulation grew significantly, worked with Nalbandian (whose photos were published in the magazine regularly) and offered him a job in the United States. Nalbandian, however, declined, opting to stay in Jerusalem.

At almost every souvenir shop in Jerusalem depicting the Holy Land’s treasures, Nalbandian’s photos appear as postcards, bookmarks, posters, books, journals, and souvenir items.

“Photography does not end in Jerusalem. Every time I take a picture, I tell myself, I can do better tomorrow,” Nalbandian told Jerusalem Story. This is true of the photos Nalbandian captured, not only of Jerusalem but of Palestine at large.

“Every time I take a picture, I tell myself, I can do better tomorrow.”

Garo Nalbandian, photographer

Some of his photos have taken him years (some even almost a decade) to complete in such detail. He has great instincts for photography (especially in war zones) and has worked in cinematography including as director of photography for the film In the Line of Fire (2009).

“Photography is in my blood,” Nalbandian shared in a 2014 interview with the US news channel CNN.4 Nalbandian insists that a gifted photographer must not only love the craft but must also love the place. “Not everyone who learns photography becomes a photographer,” he tells Jerusalem Story. He adds that seeing Jerusalem is no easy matter; one must remove oneself from the rigidity of politics to see the beauty that each religion offers.

A photo of Garo Nalbandian standing by his house in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem, December 20, 2023

Photographer Garo Nalbandian stands outside his house in the Armenian Quarter, Jerusalem, December 20, 2023.

Credit:

Arda Aghazarian for Jerusalem Story

Nalbandian may well have taken more than a million photos and is known to have one of the largest photo archives of the Holy Land, Jordan, Egypt, and Cyprus. He has won various awards and prizes, including the Kodak Eastman worldwide photography competition.

“Photography is in my blood.”

Nalbandian may well have taken more than a million photos.

His photos have been used in numerous books, including those listed under Selected Works below.

He is proud to note that it is the name Nalbandian that has documented these photos of Jerusalem, a detail that captures the Armenian presence and importance there, an integral part of Jerusalem’s history.

In addition to Armenian, Nalbandian speaks Arabic, English, Hebrew, Turkish, and Italian—at different levels.

As seen in the reel below, Nalbandian stressed that Jerusalem is the place for him to be as an Armenian; it has its own Armenian Quarter with a school, churches, sports clubs, creating spaces where the Armenian culture and language are actively preserved and cherished. He emphasized his connection to Jerusalem, particularly during the recent years of Israeli pressure over the controversial Cow’s Garden land lease (see Questionable Secret Land Lease Deal Threatens Historic Armenian Community Land and Property in Old City and Armenians Launch Legal Battle to Cancel Controversial Cows’ Garden Land Deal). If it were to go through, the deal could result in the loss of one-quarter of an area of the Armenian Quarter, including Nalbandian’s own house. He has actively participated, alongside the whole community, in protests over this attempted land grab.

Garo Nalbandian protests against a secretive and later cancelled land deal that would mean the loss of one-quarter of the Armenian Quarter’s land in Jerusalem’s Old City, including his own home, May, 2023.

Credit:

Muath al-Khatib and Farah al-Sharif for Jerusalem Story

“Not a Bad Photographer”

Nalbandian remains passionate as a photographer and requires nothing less than perfection. When he takes a camera, he is adamant to do it right: “I could not live with myself if I took a bad photograph,”5 he says. With that said, however, he realizes that perfection does not exist. He hopes to be remembered as “not a bad photographer,” he smiles.