Axkhaneh Shahr (Iranian Photo Museum) affiliated with the Artistic
and Cultural organization of Tehran Municipality the fist
specialized museum of photography in Iran and the Middle east. It
was established in May, 1995 and contains photographic instruments
which were made more than one hundred years ago. It is always open
to public
the collection of
photo in museum is Include of old photos Since qajar
to present . Many of photos are gift from photographers &
Some of These photos buy by Iran Photo Museum
.The Collection of Movie Camera , slide Projection and print
Instruments Since 1890 to Present .The Collection of Glass Plate (
Negatives ).
Less than ten years had passed the
advent of photography in Europe when this technique found its way to
Iran.It was during the latter years of the reign of Mohammed Shah
Qajar and the early years of that of his
son Naser al-Din Shah, that the royal
court took special interest in this magical innovation. Indeed,
Naser al-Din Shah was among the first to
master the art of photography. He enjoyed working on themes as
diverse as the women of his harem, architecture, landscapes, hunting
escapades and even political prisoners. He also left behind an
excellent collection of self-portraits.
Historical records refer to two French
men, Carlion and Richard, whose services
were engaged by the court for the purpose of photography and
instruction of methods of developing and printing as early as 1844.
The European diplomatic missions along with technical and military
advisors stationed in Iran were also instrumental in introducing the
different methods of printing as they developed in Europe.
Furthermore they were active in documenting their sojourn in this
part of the orient. August Kerziz
Austrian military instructor (1851-59),
Focchetti Italian engineer (1847), Luigi
Pesce Italian general and military attaché (1848-61), Luigi
Montabone Italian photographer (1862)
and Ernst Holtzer German engineer
(1860’s) are a few examples of such Europeans.
By
1860 photography was taught at Dar al-Fonoun
(polytechnic institute) in Tehran. Many students of the institute
left for Europe in order to pursue and perfect their education in
photography. Reza Khan Eghbal al-Saltaneh,
Abdollah Khan Qajar,
Mohammed Jafar Khan
Khadem are Iranians whose photography careers began in the
late 1850’s. Roussi Khan, a pupil of
Abdollah Khan Qajar,
inaugurated the first public photography studio in Tehran in 1878.
By 1890 such studios had been established in the main cities such as
Tabriz, Isfahan,
Bushehr and Shiraz.
Considering the fact that the ground
breaking innovations in photography and printing took place
between 1839-41 in Europe, the early
years of Iranian photography are almost coincidental with and run
parallel to that of Europe. As such early Iranian photographers and
the Europeans who lived or traveled through Iran at the time,
documenting their lives and surroundings through photography are
among the forerunners of this art and propagators of this technique
in the history of photography. These men have left behind a legacy
of photographs depicting their epoch which have found their way to
European and American museums, archives of collectors here and
abroad, and the vaults of men and women who guard their family
heritage.
