Szathmari was the first photographer to document the Crimean War, travelling from his studio in Bucharest to photograph the men engaged in the first skirmishes of the war in the Wallachian and Moldavian provinces. He took about 200 photographs which were displayed in Paris in the summer of 1855. This photograph of Turkish soldiers is from a set acquired by Queen Victoria. Of the 13 surviving prints, all are group portraits. A few show senior commanders, such as Omar Pacha (1806–71), but most show ‘types’ representing different ranks of the Ottoman army.