TEHRAN – Rare photographs of Iranian children taken in the early 19th century in Tehran are on display in an exhibition celebrating 180 years of Iranian photographic history.

Axkhaneh Shahr, Iran’s photo museum, is organizing the exhibit entitled “Yesterday’s Children”.

According to Chahryar Adle, an Iranian historian who was a professor emeritus of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, the first daguerreotype in Iranian was taken by Russian diplomat Nikolai Pavlov about mid-December in 1842, the organizers said in a statement for the exhibit.

Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photographic process widely used during the 1840s and 1850s.

“Over the past few years, some scholars and devotees of Iran’s photography history have made attempts to register the 25th of Azar on the Iranian calendar as Iran’s photography day, but their attempts have not succeeded. Nevertheless, they are well aware of the history of Iranian photography and observe this important day,” the statement explained.

Photos on view at the exhibition have been selected from Axkhaneh Shahr’s archive, according to the organizers, who pointed out, “The images are the first photos depicting the Iranian children of the period.”

“At first glance, they seem unfamiliar, but taking a closer look at their faces and details, they begin to seem familiar,” the statement noted.  

“Recording the photos of today’s children is still so important, because the photos would represent images of Iran to future generations,” they said.

The organizers also expressed their hopes that the relevant officials would agree to register the 25th of Azar on the Iranian calendar as Iran’s photography day.

The exhibition will run until January 26.

The history of Iranian photography is also closely associated with photographer Antoin Sevruguin, who was born into a mixed Armenian-Georgian family in the Russian Embassy in Tehran in the 19th century.

Sevruguin managed and operated one of the most successful commercial photography studios in Tehran.

Many of the early portraits of dervishes and women have been simultaneously attributed to Antoin Sevruguin and Dimitri Yermakov, the Georgian photographer who is often referred to as Sevruguin’s mentor.

As early as 1885, many of Sevruguin’s photographs were being published in travelogues, journals and books. By that time he had fully established a studio on Tehran’s Ala al-Dawla Street and cemented ties to the court of the Qajar ruler Nasser ad-Din Shah (reigned 1848—96). He received the Medal of the Lion and Sun from the shah.

His works are preserved at several prestigious museums and collections across the world, including the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington.

Photo: A poster for the photo exhibition “Yesterday’s Children” underway at Axkhaneh Shahr in Tehran.

MMS/YAW