Seremoni ve fotoğraf ile sultana erişebilmek: Sultan V. Mehmed Reşad (1909-1918) döneminde yeni bir imparatorluk imajının yayılması

This study aims to examine the photographs of imperial ceremonies during Sultan Mehmed V Reşad's reign and their role in the creation of a new, more accessible public image of the sultan. Sultan Mehmed V Reşad ascended the throne in 1909 during a particularly turbulent era of the Empire when it was troubled with internal and external conflict. In a time of hardship, Sultan Mehmed V Reşad's ceremonies created feelings of solidarity within the audience along with a feeling of reverence for the sultan and the Ottoman dynasty. Ceremonies are a tool for those in power to define and describe themselves. For governments, the political use of ceremonies is to display and reinforce legitimacy. Sultan Mehmed V Reşad and the Committee of Union and Progress were direly in need to legitimize their power, and ceremonies were an excellent opportunity for this. Mehmed V Reşad was very much unlike his predecessor in that he wanted to create a more accessible image, lifting Sultan Abdülhamid II's restrictions imposed on printing photographs of the sultan and appearing in many public ceremonies. Therefore, photojournalism became a very important tool for the propagation of the sultan's image which mainly focused on the numerous ceremonies the sultan attended, ranging from religious Islamic ceremonies to diplomatic visits of foreign heads of state. This study compiles photographs from three Ottoman periodicals depicting Sultan Mehmed V Reşad attending ceremonies. Overall, this thesis argues that ceremonies and their photographs were used to disseminate Sultan Mehmed V Reşad's imperial image which relied on visibility and accessibility to sway public opinion in his favor.