Sevruguin and the Persian Image: Photographs of Iran, 1870-1930 (Asian Art & Culture (Unnumbered).) (Paperback)

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

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"Antoin Sevruguin (late 1830s-1933) was a celebrated photographer of late-nineteenth-century Iran. Sevruguin 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 paintings."--BOOK JACKET. "In addition to his numerous 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 and continued the project in Kurdistan and Luristan (in southwestern Iran)."--BOOK JACKET. "In this generously illustrated book, the first ever devoted to Sevruguin and his singular work, six distinguished authors explore the photographer's life and career."--BOOK JACKET.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press; illustrated edition edition (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295978457
• ISBN-13: 978-0295978451
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 7.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #826,138 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent photos - nastalgic, April 16, 2000

By A Customer

this is a great collection of some excellent photos of iran at the turn of the last century - it chronicles everyday life, including peasants, and the aristocracy and monarchy - there is a great picture of tehran's bustling main street, with horse-drawn, rail carriages, and the throngs of crowds, some of whom are temporairly mesmerized by the photographer perched on some rooftop. A must-have for iran-history-nastalgic buffs. Only wish there was more...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uncovers a lost treasure, January 4, 2002

By	Bukkene Bruse (Iowa) - See all my reviews

"Sevruguin and the Persian Image" presents the Smithsonian's collection of one of Qajar Iran's preeminent photographers. In addition to the photographs, the volume contains valuable histories of early photography in Iran, the career of Antoin Sevruguin, and how the collection itself came about. The double entendre of the title refers to how Sevruguin's art was informed by and catered to the Orientalist tastes of a Europe in which he was educated. Yet as an Armenian Christian who was born, lived, died and was buried in Tehran, he presented a different image of Iran than the typical Orientalist photographers of the day. "Sevruguin and the Persian Image" is both a solid examination of a photographer's art as well as a thoughtful analysis of the Western image of Iran in the late nineteenth century.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have Book, June 27, 2007

By	Roja Najafi "Roja" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If the area of your study or/and interest involves Art,Photography,History of Asia and Near East this is a must have book. Sevruguin went to Iran and stayed there for almost all of his life. This book is a collection of the first photographs from Iran (that of course he took). Through Sevruguin's eyes the reader/viewer is able to discover a new world. Not only this world is new to you if you are a western viewer, but also these photographs reveal yet another angle for a native viewer, such as myself, since many of these photographs have never displayed back in Iran. I think, in a broader sense, as long as one keeps in mind that these are representations of one culture through the eyes of an outsider, this book is useful and interesting.