Western Literature on the History of Qajar Era Photography (original) (raw)
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Photography during the Qajar era, Iran (1842–1925)
From the period of early photography in Iran, eighty-three years fell within the Qajar era, the years 1842 to 1925. Photographs, books, writings, and various events all attest that this was indeed a flourishing period within history of photography in Iran. The portrait photographs of kings and their entourages, people and their lives and mores, their professions, villages and cityscapes, natural settings, architecture, transportation, various ceremonies and photographs of myriad other topics which have reached us today have managed to preserve these images into the twenty-first century.
This article explores the emergence of fine art photography in Iran during the 1960s and 1970s, bringing to the fore the significance of Ahmad Aali and his early photographic works for this transformation. It sheds light on the confluence of the main trajectories that paved the way for the formation of fine art photography in Iran, firstly by exploring historical practices of photography, secondly by addressing the influences of transforming political and social agendas after World War II on photographic developments, and finally by underlining the involvement of photography in the artistic sphere of that time. Central to the latter is Aali's contribution to theoretical discourses about photography as an artistic medium and the major role he played in the first photographic exhibitions in art spaces. In that perspective, this article argues for the pivotal role of Ahmad Aali in bridging the gap between photography and art for the first time in Iran's long history of photography. It analyses Aali's photographic works exhibited during the 1960s and 1970s to comprehend the circumstances of the emergence of fine art photography in Iran, and does so by discussing the modernist aesthetics in photography that emerged at the time. Going beyond Aali's regional importance, it examines his conceptual approaches to overcoming the 'static realism' and the limitations of the medium. Aali's novel photographic concepts of space and time that emerged therefrom should be accorded their full autonomy and uniqueness in the (rewriting g of a narrative of art history on their very premises. This article thereby seeks to support a critique of the narrow epistemo-logical boundaries of the discipline of art history and its resulting marginalization of locally developed art forms and concepts.
paykareh, 2023
Problem Definition: The goals and methods of producing the work of documentary photographers, in terms of the influences they receive from each historical period, are formed at the same time as recording the work; However, what they have shown is now a symbol of the historical past. Photography, as an effective and dynamic art-media, presents many alternatives to artists and journalists. In this research, the historical investigation of these effects on war photography (backgrounds and formation process) is conducted to answer the following questions: «What have been its national and international effects, centered on influential groups of professional, independent, and military photographers?» and «What effects have the political and social factors of that period had on photography in terms of form and content?» Objective: The primary goal of this research is to deal with the history of Iranian war photography as its formation and effects, during Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), which is called the Holy defense or the Imposed war in the country's political literature. Research Method: The current research is conducted using a descriptive-analytical and historical method. The data was collected through a documentary-library approach using visual and interview (the author and the photographers of this course) methods. Results: Based on the results, the two events of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war caused fundamental changes in documentary photography and, accordingly, in Iran's war photography in terms of form and content. Iranian photography was formed under the influence of the general movement of the people with mainly ideological and religious themes and a revolutionary approach. These changes, besides the revolutionary and religious atmosphere dominant in that period, result from the original and native look of many of these photographers, especially independent photographers (experienced and amateur).