Document Type : .

Author

• Mohammad Amir Ahmadzadeh

Assistant professor of history,Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies , Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Nasser al-Din Shah's interest in the emerging phenomenon of photography, which was the achievement of Western civilization, led to the rise of photography. The first subjects of the king's photography were the women of the shrine and the courtiers, and the first photographers were the king, the courtiers and a number of foreign photographers. The departure of the monopoly of photography from the court became one of the reasons for paying attention to various subjects such as subjects, nature and animals. On the other hand, the Shah's desire to photograph pure and improvised subjects led to a shift to documentary photography. Since then, photography has continued in both portrait and documentary forms. In addition to capturing pure and improvised images, documentary photography was also used in video reporting and journalism. The photographs used in journalism, as well as the photographs taken for the purpose of visual reporting, have been able to find an important citation position over time.

The purpose of this research is to use a descriptive-analytical method to explain why documentary photography was used and its applications during the reign of Nasser al-Din Shah. Findings of the research show that Shah's attention and interest caused others to pay attention to photography, especially documentary photography by some photographers. Photographs and albums left over from that period show progress in this area.

Keywords

• "
• Nasreddin Shah
• Camera
• Photographer
• Documentary
• Video Report"

 Extended abstract

 A look at the importance of documentary photography and its applications in Iran during the Nasrid period (1264-1313 AH)

Introduction

The topic of photography and visual historiography is one of the most important areas of research, which are important in terms of diversity and the abundance of epistemic and historical sources in Iran during the era of Naser al-Din Shah. In this research, an attempt is made to investigate the position of documentary photography and its applications during the time of Naseruddin Shah. The basis of the upcoming research is based on the question that; How was documentary photography created and what were its uses? The hypothesis of the research indicates that the Shah's attention caused the creation of documentary photography and its prosperity. Although the first two orders of the Shah were unsuccessful for recording a video report, but regarding the Persepolis of Pesha, he fulfilled the mission of Jules Richard. On the other hand, the recording of documentary images and video report was extended to other topics such as anthropology, nature, wildlife, etc. and flourished.

Questions: The questions raised at the beginning of this research are; What is the position of photography in the court of Naser al-Din Shah? What have been the most important topics and issues of planning and processing in documentary photography? And what functions can be drawn for the documentary photo in Iranian society in the second half of the 19th century?

Research background: In the field of photography history of Iran, many researches including books, articles and theses have been written, but no separate and independent research has been done in the field of documentary and video report. It is only scattered and limited in various sources, in the following we will try to address some of the researches done in this regard:

Stein, (1368), in the book "The Beginning of Photography in Iran", has described the history of the arrival of photography in Iran. The author has written the stages of the emergence of photography in Iran and then introduced the pioneers and promoters of photography in Iran, for this reason this book is useful for future research.

Tahmasabpour (1381), is the author of a book called "Naser al-Din, the Shah of Photography (about the history of photography in Iran)". Among the important topics discussed in this book are the introduction of the camera to Iran, Naseruddin Shah's interest and attention to photography, visual reports and the use of photography in archaeological excavations. This work is considered one of the important sources of Iranian photography history.

Flosser et al. (2018), "History and Photography (Essays on Photography as a Historical Document)", this work is a collection of articles and includes 7 articles and translation by Mohammad Ghafouri. The authors have a different look at the photo and pay attention to the photo from the perspective of historiography and documentation.

Owaisi (2008), in his thesis entitled "Anthropological study of photography in the Qajar period", deals with photography. The remarkable thing that distinguishes this work from other researches. In the fourth chapter, under the title of Anthropology of Qajar Period Photography, the author has discussed topics such as the factors of the development of photography in Iran during the Qajar era, culture and cultural visual elements, artistic photography, personal photography and documentary photography. The different and new look that the author has on the photo in the Qajar period is important for the future research.

Sharifzadeh (1384), in an article called "Naser al-Din Shah, the most famous amateur photographer in the world", deals with the arrival of photography in Iran and Naser al-Din Shah's interest in photography and historical monuments, which is important for the upcoming article.

Araghchian and Sattari (1389), in an article titled "Qajar Photography: Eastern View, Western View", introduce some western photographers and photographic subjects, so it is applicable to this article.

According to the researches, some of which have been mentioned here, the present research is different from them and has a new look at the subject of photography in the Nasrid era. In this research, based on the available data, documentary photography and its applications during the time of Naseruddin Shah are discussed.

Methodology (research objectives and methodology)

The current research is based on the historical analysis framework. In this research model, while collecting sources and historical data, the analysis, adaptation and selection of documents are discussed in a historical context.

 Findings: What can be presented in this article as the achievement of the discussion and its innovative aspect is that although the dominant aspect and dominant discourse on the photography of Naser al-Din Shah's period is the "courtly approach" to it and attention to the photo as a component of entertainment and entertainment. But the emergence of documentary photography, which sought to publicize and socialize the subjects and topics of the shooting location, is itself a proof that basically this aspect of modernization and the process of modernization is from the court to the social groups and society of Iran. It was transferred in the second half of the 19th century. In this regard, we can mention the use of photographs as an important historical source in historical texts, newspapers, etc., that the social reflection of some photographs, including the photograph of Monsieur Noz Belgian or the photo of the merchants with the constitutional decree and... was somehow effective in creating and public agitation for the occurrence of constitutional preparations.

Discussion and conclusion: From the very beginning of its arrival in Iran, Naseruddin Shah attracted the attention and interest of the camera. The first photography subjects were the king himself and the harem women. Naser al-Din Shah was interested in photographing impromptu subjects during his travels, this interest led to two orders from the Shah to photograph the scene of the Mero war and the historical monuments of Takht Jamshid. These two orders ended with failure to achieve the result, but in the following years, the photography of Persepolis was done by another person.

On the other hand, in the beginning, photography was only available to the court and photographers