Pascal Sebah was born in Istanbul (Turkey), in 1823. His father was from Syria, and his mother from Armenia. He opened his photographic studio in Istanbul in 1857, and a second one in Cairo (Egypt) in 1873. He died in 1886. The name Sebah & Khachik refers to a photographic studio in Alexandria (after Pascal Sebah’s death, his son Jean probably took over the business and opened a branch in Alexandria, working with Khachik).