antoin sevruguin

veiled lady with pearls, ca. 1890

dervish

reclining woman with a turban, qajar era, late 19th century

two veiled woman with child

a beggar in tehran, iran, ca. 1880

gypsy women checking for lice, qajar era, late 19th century

jewish village girl adorned in silver jewelry, qajar era, late 19th century

women & child in the harem, qajar era, late 19th century

women in tribal costume, qajar era, late 19th century

men with lion on leash

man being buried alive as punishment

mother nursing child, qajar era, late 19th century

schoolgirls

kebab vendors on the street

persian woman

man with falcon

reclining lady reading a book, qajar era, late 19th century

dervish, 19th century

barber dyeing nasir al-din shah's mustache, 1890

opium smokers

antoin sevruguin was a photographer in iran during the reign of the qajar dynasty (1785-1925).

in 1908 cossacks of muhammad ali shah inadvertently bombed his store in suppression of zahiru'd-dawla, the constitutionalist governor of rasht. the whole street was burned, including his house. only two thousand photographs were salvaged from seven thousand. in an attempt to modernize persia reza shah pahlavi (reigned 1925-1941) confiscated the remaining traditional images.

after his death from a kidney infection sevruguin's images resurfaced. his daughter mary reclaimed a portion of the photographs, perhaps through her friendship with muhammad reza shah pahlavi. 696 negatives survive today.

it's so fascinating to see such a cross section of society - from the shah to beggars. and, of course, i am absolutely salivating over the clothing & jewelry. i don't think i've ever noticed that some of the women wore thick white stockings.