Qajar (Kadjar) Photography

The Qajar (Kadjar) period is also responsible, among other things, for having introduced Persia to the art of photography. The chief mentor and patron of the art of photography was Nasser-ed-Din Shah himself, an avid inovator and amateur of technologies of all sorts. Not only did Nasser-ed-Din Shah sponsor and encourage photography to be introduced into Persia, Nasser-ed-Din Shah often was himself the "artist" behind the photographic instrument too, and the results were not bad at all. What follows is a photographic essay entitled "Casual Moments: Photos from the Qajar Era," May 10, 1999, in The Iranian, the online magazine. Though the artist is often not known, the pictures are an interesting reflection of the time and the mood of Persia at the time of the introduction of the camera obscura.

To view this essay, click here.

To read an essay on Qajar (Kadjar) Photography, click here.

To take a virtual tour of the old Photo Gallery of the Qajar (Kadjar) era of Tehran, click here.

For pictorials of a philatelic nature, also linked to Nasser-ed-Din Shah, see Kadjar Stamps pages.

For more pictorials of a philatelic nature of Qajar (Kadjar) shahs, click here.

For a new essay and interview with a young Persian photographer who recreates Qajar (Kadjar) era moods in her pictures,

click here. NEW! (10/31/00)

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