TEHRAN -- An exhibition displaying a collection of photos of a number of Qajar officials is currently underway at the Iran Photo Museum, which also known as Axkhaneh Shahr. 

 

The collection belongs to the Iranian genealogist and historian of the University of Hamburg Ashkan Aminianfard, the museum announced in its website.

 

The rarely seen collection features photos by Armenian-Georgian photographer Antoin Sevruguin, British-Russian photographer Russi Khan Ivanov, French photographers Félix Nadar and Eugène Pirou, and Russian photographer Dmitri Ivanovich Ermakov.

 

In addition, works of Mirza Abdollah Qajar, Dust-Mohammad Khan Moayyer-ol-Mamalek, Mohammad-Hassan Khan Qajar, Mirza Mohammad Khan Heshmat-ol-Mamalek and several other Iranian photographers have been hung at the exhibit.

 

The exhibition, which runs until June 5, has been organized to commemorate International Museum Day, which is May 18.

 

The advent of photographic art occurred in Iran about five years after its invention in 1839 during the last years of Qajar king Mohammad Shah’s reign.

 

Afterwards, Nasser ad-Din Shah, Mohammad Shah’s successor, showed great interest in photography and sent several groups of talented students from Dar-ul-Fonun, the Iranian polytechnic institute established in 1851, to European academies to learn the art.

 

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