Portrait Photographs from Isfahan, 1920-1950

In collaboration with the Prince Claus Fund, Foam-Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam presented from 7 September to 29 October 2006 an exceptional selection of historic photos taken between 1920 and 1950 in the Iranian city of Isfahan.

When the Islamic Republic was established in 1979 Iranian women were required to wear a hijab, and it was strictly prohibited to photograph women who were not veiled. As a direct result of this prohibition many photography studios were burned to the ground - along with their prints and negatives. Collections of apparently worthless glass negatives were often stashed away somewhere and forgotten about. Parisa Damandan, a native of Isfahan, spent many years assembling a sizeable collection of portrait photos taken in the first half of the twentieth century. These portraits provide a remarkable insight into life in Iran at a time when traditional culture was developing into a modern society - a transformation that was largely reversed after 1979. Together with the Prince Claus Fund, Foam presented a unique selection from this extraordinary collection of Iranian portrait photos from 7 September to 29 October 2006.

Parisa Damandan (b.1967, Isfahan) found her metier in her first year as a photography student at Teheran University: the history of portrait photography. To investigate how it originated and developed she returned to her roots in her native Isfahan. Isfahan is not just where she was born; it is also a city with a unique tradition in all kinds of arts and crafts. Over a period of ten years Damandan acquired more than 20,000 glass plates. These include various makes of plate, such as Kodak, Agfa and Gevaert, and all the sizes available at the time, from 4 x 6 cm to 18 x 24 cm. The plates were exposed in every camera imaginable, from wooden box cameras, to pure light etc.
Parisa Damandan: “When I began my research I started from nothing. I had no experience and no knowledge about how to deal with the information I was looking for and finding. It was not just me that was new to the subject. The subject itself was new as well. There were no articles about it. Finding people who had anything of value to say on the subject was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I began by collecting glass-plate negatives. To my surprise I discovered that photo shops in Isfahan were only too pleased to get rid of this ‘ballast’. No government department has shown any interest in this cultural heritage, and no facilities are provided at all to organise the conservation, study and publication of this material.”

The photos tend to show Isfahan’s middle class. They feature a variety of social and professional groups. Among them are numerous tourist snapshots. Portraits of individuals and families are also well represented. The figures in the photos reflect the changes that engulfed the world of Isfahan, transforming it drastically. The collection provides a remarkable view of the rise of industrial society and the changes that followed the military coup in 1920.

Geen titel. Gholamhossein Derakhshan, 1952 Copyright Parisa Damandan, 2004