Ianake Manakia settled in Ioannina around 1898-1899, where he took up a position as a drawing and calligraphy teacher. He also opened a photography studio there, bringing in his younger brother, Milton. The advertisement for the Manakia brothers’ first photography studio was written in both Ottoman Turkish and Romanian. From this period, at least 370 glass negatives have survived, taken in over 40 localities, with 86 of them shot in Ioannina itself. All the photographs in the archive preserved in Bucharest were created during this period. Three images specifically depict the city. One is a panorama from the west, reconstructed in the studio from multiple frames taken on-site. Another offers a view of Ioannina Castle, with the clearly visible minaret of the Aslan Pasha Mosque, and several mysterious figures in a cinematic scene involving a horse in the water. A third photograph presents a complete view of the Island on the lake, where Ali Pasha met his end, captured on the slopes of Mount Mitskeli.
