Published with the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institute (Asian Art & Culture S.) - Tapa blanda

Antoin Sevruguin (late 1830s-1933) was a leading, celebrated photographer of late 19th-century Iran. He had two lifelong obsessions. The first was a cherished desire to record Iran in all its facets on glass plates; the second was to capture light in his photographs the way he so admired in Rembrandt's painting. A special interest in light and atmosphere pervaded Sevruguin's work. In addition to his numerous, compelling pictures of urban life and portraits made in his famous studio in Tehran, Sevruguin made a photographic inventory of the landscape, archaeological sites, and people of Azarbaijan, Kurdistan, and Luristan. Although the majority of his pictures were destroyed during political upheavals in the early 20th century, a significant number have been preserved in archives in the West. In this generously illustrated book, five distinguished authors explore the photographer's life and career. "Sevruguin and the Persian Image" includes a portfolio of signature works by a photographer whose innovations in lighting, composition, and development constitute landmark contributions to the evolution of photography. Frederick N Bohrer is associate professor of art at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland.