Reprinted from: Honar Nameh, University of Art, Tehran, No. 18, Spring 2004

A Note on A Photograph Jamshid Hatam Iran, 2004

The birth of Photography in the beginning decades of the nineteenth century was an important event. The evolution of the social system in this century, and the growth of a universal class within industrial societies, made for the spread of photography in its instrumental and functional dimensions.

People's interest in recording images of themselves led to a major trend in photography, namely portraits.

Photography in Iran followed world trends from the beginning. Remaining portraits from this period contain images of kings, aristocrats and other prominent people. They reveal the preoccupations of this social stratum in Qajar period.

Photography is a documentary mirror revealing the cultures and identities of societies. History of photography in Iran goes back to the 1920s and is a reflection of a given point in Iran's history.