au·then·tic·i·ty
real or genuine : not copied or false
true and accurate
made to be or look just like an original
The Qajar Dynasty (1722-1924) marks an important era in Iran’s history. Iran was in the process of creating a new national identity, under tensions from the incoming interest of the West and their own tensions with the historical past of the Safavid’s. How was the new ruling class meant to break from the traditions of Persia, while still be viewed as modernizers and reformers? The creation of national identity as a modern Iran was not only done through political legislation but through visual arts to confirm and solidify the Shah’s positions.
Using photography the Iranian court was able to innovate applications of existing forms of Iranian portraiture, while reappropriating Western technologies. The controversies of Orientalism and the East vs. West dichotomies emerge in the burgeoning modernity’s of both regions. Using Ali Behdad’s essay, “The Power-ful Art of Qajar Photography: Orientalism and (self)-Orientalizing in Nineteenth-century Iran” as a framework to critically analyze the different uses of photography in Qajar Iran, and how these images played in creating and changing not only perceptions of cultures but representations. Not only were Iranian courtly figures such as Nasir Al-Din, using photography, but Europeans, such as Antoin Sevruguin came to Iran using the technology to capture what they see fit as “authentic” Iran. The shift towards orientalist practices becomes a self-orientalization, continued by the Shah’s romanticized photographic practices, such as being surrounded by beautiful women, that European’s associated with Iranian culture.
Focusing on the representative qualities photographs invoke of the “real”. Inspired by the history of photography and the belief that photographs are a “direct copy of reality” this website critiques this narrative offering a more subjective look at photography’s role, through the work of Qajar Iran. What makes a place authentic?