Aramyants, Mantashyants and Tumasov, Akhtala, 1903

Three giants of the Baku oil world: the legendary Armenians Aramyants, Mantashyants and Tumasov. The photograph was taken in 1903 in Akhtala.

Five men stand on and beside the entrance steps of a stone building. Three wear European suits and hats; the white-bearded one wears high boots and holds a rifle. At the edges stand two men in long traditional dress and tall fur hats, the one on the right with a cartridge belt and a rifle. Palm-like plants in wooden tubs flank the entrance, and the round tower of the building rises behind.