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Two Photo Albums of Qajar Iran in the Hermitage Collection: On the Role of the Artist and the Commissioner

Stored in the Hermitage collection are two Qajar Iran photo albums, datable to 1890s. One of them, recently acquired for the Oriental Department, includes works created in the studio of Antoin Sevruguin (1851–1933), one of the most famous photo artists of Qajar Iran and court photographer of Nasir al-Din Shah. The first owner of the photo prints, who remained unknown, made this commission not earlier than in May 1896. The second album is stored in the collection of the Library of the Oriental Department — one of the branches of the Hermitage Academic Library. Most likely, it was assembled by a Russian military man and amateur photographer Nikolay Remizov (Remizoff) around 1894. The richly decorated binding and the ex-libris of Nicholas II pasted on the doublure of the upper cover, suggests that this artwork could have been gifted to the Russian emperor by its author soon after his return from Iran. The Remizov album is of special interest as an illustrative source, for it consists of photos obviously not intended for multiple copying, unlike the extremely popular prints produced in Sevruguin’s studio. Both albums, created in the same period and similar in terms of their genre scope and thematic contents, show two different approaches to collecting art prints by foreigners visiting Qajar Iran in late 19th — early 20th century. The commissioner of the first album arranged the illustrations according to his own taste, becoming its full-fledged compiler. He selected ready-made works, shot in different years in the studio of the artist of non-Iranian origin, who, nevertheless, had settled in Iran a long time ago and was able to depict places and events hidden from the eyes of an outside observer. In the second case the same person, being an outside observer, acted as both the author and the compiler of the album. Though his view on contemporary Iran was apparently to a greater extent related to his direct observations and personal impressions, his status of the foreigner and the nature of his service must have imposed certain restrictions on the choice of locations and themes of his work.