Portrait Photographs from Isfahan : Faces in Transition Parisa Damandan

A passion for photography and photo-history drove Parisa Damandan to painstakingly seek and accumulate an impressive collection of portrait photographs from Isfahan, Iran. A native Isfahani herself, Damandan followed every lead and knocked on every door to find the pioneer studio photographers of the city. Covering the period of 1920-50, Portrait Photographs from Isfahan, co-published with the Prince Claud Fund Library, is a visual document of a nation in transition to modernity, a matter explored and expounded upon by the accompanying articles. The man off the street with a fashionable chapeau and a three-piece suit or with the traditional turban and cloak, posing with friends, wife or children; recently emancipated women standing unveiled and confident; and Polish war refugees passing through the city on their trip back home after having been driven out by the Nazis, all found their way to the studio and posed for the camera.