Sevruguin and the Persian Image

by Bohrer, Frederick Nathaniel; Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)

• ISBN13: 9780295978451
• ISBN10: 0295978457
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr

Summary

Antoin Sevruguin (late 1830s-1933) was a leading, celebrated photographer of late 19th-century Iran. He had two lifelong obsessions. The first was a cherished desire to record Iran in all its facets on glass plates; the second was to capture light in his photographs the way he so admired in Rembrandt's painting. A special interest in light and atmosphere pervaded Sevruguin's work.In addition to his numerous, compelling pictures of urban life and portraits made in his famous studio in Tehran, Sevruguin made a photographic inventory of the landscape, archaeological sites, and people of Azarbaijan, Kurdistan, and Luristan. Although the majority of his pictures were destroyed during political upheavals in the early 20th century, a significant number have been preserved in archives in the West.In this generously illustrated book, five distinguished authors explore the photographer's life and career. Sevruguin and the Persian Image includes a portfolio of signature works by a photographer whose innovations in lighting, composition, and development constitute landmark contributions to the evolution of photography.Frederick N. Bohrer is associate professor of art at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland.

Table of Contents

Foreword	6	(1)
Milo Cleveland Beach
Acknowledgments	7	(1)
Introduction: Photographic Perspectives	8	(2)
Frederick N. Bohrer
Chronology, Map, Print Processes	10	(5)
Early Photography in Iran and the Career of Antoin Sevruguin	15	(18)
Corien J. M. Vuurman
Theo H. Martens
Looking Through Photographs: Sevruguin and the Persian Image	33	(22)
Frederick N. Bohrer
Portfolio of a Nation	55	(24)
Reza Sheikh
Sevruguin: Orientalist or Orienteur?	79	(20)
Ali Behdad
Passages: Studio to Archive to Exhibition	99	(19)
Julia Ballerini
Further Reading	118	(1)
Contributors	119	(1)
Index	120