Gezicht op de rivier de Daliki en bergen in Perzië c. 1880 - 1895

This is a photograph of the Daliki River and mountains in Persia, taken by Antoine Sevruguin. Sevruguin was one of the most prolific photographers of the late 19th century. He worked in Iran, then called Persia, at a time of great political and social change. Sevruguin used glass plate negatives, a cumbersome but highly detailed medium. The wet collodion process required coating a glass plate with chemicals, exposing it in the camera while still wet, and then developing it immediately. This meant he had to carry a darkroom with him. The final print was made by contact printing the negative onto albumen paper, which had a glossy surface. Consider the social context. Photography in Persia was tied to modernization, but also to European fascination with the “Orient.” Sevruguin’s photographs, while documenting Persian life, also catered to Western tastes, walking a line between documentation and exoticism. We can appreciate his technical skill, while also considering the complex power dynamics at play in his work.