Photography was not known to the Egyptians, introduced by foreigners in Egypt, and Béla Studio is oldest and most prestigious studio photography in Egypt, where he established lover imaging Mister Béla Hungarian citizenship in 1890 and was the first of its kind in Egypt, and therefore has been to buy the latest cameras at the time, a Cameras and lenses (Lennhoff) German, cameras and blower, which was characterized by the presence of her calf so easily transported and agitated, and it was Khawaja Béla uses special cameras at the time when you go out to the shooting, and was a wooden box and Flash (spark electricity) magnesium produces strong light. The interior photography in the studio requires the use of a camera blower and the presence of constant light, a yellow bulbs (tungsten), which require no movement during filming for two seconds.
Strange that after a period of opening Khawaja «Béla» for its own studio in the Qasr al-Nil Street downtown, A number of Akhawajat Greeks and Armenians opened a similar studios in the downtown area, such as studio «Andrew» and «Olbern» and «Jarraud», were all foreign-owned studios downtown area.
In 1925 Béla traveled to his country and sold the studio to the Lebanese people returned, but Béla stipulated working studio system not changed; to remain a witness to the photography in this country’s history, then participate in Fehmi Pasha prestige in the ownership of the shop, but after a while he sold the Lebanese partner stake and became a studio owned fully Pasha Fahmi, who declined to be based change the name (Béla) because the history of the studio is linked to his name, in addition to the studio name attracts foreign tourists, especially the Hungarians who come to the studio to ask about Khawaja (Béla), believing that the owner of the studio Hungarian citizenship, runs the studio now Ashraf Mohieyiddin one of the descendants of Fahmi Pasha.
Ashraf says: Studio Béla largest and oldest photography studio in Egypt, where he reaches to 700 meters, was filming at the time requires special like to wear formal clothing rituals, which the suit and the Association of the neck and cowl, and people were keen on photography once a month or when you buy a dress or a new suit, with a change of hairstyle and the story of hair, then the well-being was shooting and there was a so-called family picture, where keen families, whether rich or poor to go to the studio to take a picture of remembrance.
To maintain the identity of the studio
explains Ashraf that his family has to maintain the identity of the studio since the purchase, it is still acidification lab since that time is present in the studio, where they are processing films and printing according to its potential, in addition to maintaining the old cameras and rare images that have been photographed since the opening studio.
as for the studio customers, says Ashraf: because studio «Béla» is the oldest in Egypt has become kings and Pashas and presidents of his customers, where he was attending delegates from Abdeen Palace to agree on the presence of al-Khawaja Béla to portray one of the royal family in the palace, and his grandfather filmed the procession of king Fouad was next to him Hussein Rushdi Pasha, as he filmed Maj. Gen. Ismail Sidqi Pasha and General Ahmed Shafiq Pasha, and Lucille Pasha Gmadar capital, and take a picture of king Farouk in his childhood, a passenger minivan, as he and my father filmed President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the events of July 1952 revolution and Nasser’s funeral, and took numerous photographs of the late President Anwar Sadat and his wife Mrs. Jihan Sadat.
