The medium of photography is critical in understanding the authentic Qajar Iran.  Photography was introduced into Iran in the early 1840’s during the reign of Muhammad Shah. However, it was mostly viewed as scientific, meant for ethnographic purposes.  It wasn’t until the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah the medium was considered a form of art, but also a way to consolidate power.  Photography provided a visual field, that would be unquestioned regarding its depiction of the “real”, and could be used to refashion oneself, or in this case the national identity of Iran.  Although the technology of photography was brought into Iran through the West, arguably it is in the East that photography developed into the art form it is today.

In the early 19th century travel was prevalent among the Orient.  England and Russia, in particular, saw Iran as a valuable market that could be made attractive to investors, and Western powers were interested in maintaining a strong influence in the country.  Conversely, Iran’s interest in the West grew, especially on the part of Nasir al-Din Shah (reigned 1848-96) of the Qajar Dynasty.  During this period, of the “grand tour,” there was an increase of foreign travelers to Iran.  Many of these travelers used or purchased photographs that could be deemed the first tourist images, of the quintessential places and monuments of Iran.  The ties of photography and orientalism are intertwined, since its inception photography has “proved to be a valuable tool, radically transforming the Orientalist system of knowledge”.¹  In one sense the camera was a scientific tool providing Orientalists with an “objective record”, hiding behind a “pseudoscientific filter”², while on the other hand it was a means for European colonial powers to maintain power through subjectively framing Iranian’s identities.

Photography offers both a subjective and objective lens while aiding Orientalist demands.  How can we understand the authentic in the photograph, when the medium of photography itself is recording such ambiguous information?  Orientalism becomes a tool of re-representation, Nasir al-Din Shah uses self-orientalization through grandiose self-portraits and palace imagery to show the power of Iran.  Orientalism, a social construction becomes subjective as seen in Antonin Sevruguin’s photographs.  We can understand the authenticity of space and, in turn, photography as a medium, as something that is ambiguous and subjective, and less focused on capturing reality, which is different for every individual. Although it’s believed photography is a direct copy of reality, perhaps we can complicate that narrative, offering a more subjective look at photography’s role in Qajar Iran. That what makes a place authentic is subjective and ambiguous, and relies intrinsically on the hand of the artist followed by the eyes of the viewer as the interpretant.

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