Description
An album of 61 albumen photographs of
Iran taken by Abdullah Mirza Qajar between 1883 and 1896. Although there are a few
bird's-eye views of Tehran and some images of Qajar buildings, the photographs primarily
depict buildings in ruins or disrepair located near towns and villages or in isolated
settings. Locales present in the album include Kerman, Khurāsān, Qom, Ray, Dāmghān, Bāstāan,
Qazvīn, Ribat-ī Machi, and Radkan.
Background
Abdullah Mirza Qajar (1850-1909), the son of Jahangir Mirza Qajar and the grandson of
Fath'ali Shāh Qajar, was member of the royal family of Iran. After attending Dār ul-Funun
polytechnic school, Iran's first institution of higher learning, Qajar was sent to Paris
around 1878 by the school's director who was also the Iranian minister of Science, Commerce,
and the Arts, to complete his training in photography. He followed his year-and-a-half in
Paris with studies in Vienna and then spent three years at Salzburg's Kaiserliche-Königliche
Staastgewerbescule. Qajar studied chemistry and typographic and photographic techniques such
as zincography, phototypy, photolithography, and galvanoplasty as well as practical skills
such as photo retouching.
Extent
1.5 Linear Feet
(61 photographs in 1 album)
Restrictions
Contact Library Reproductions
and Permissions.