Gezicht op een huis met een ommuurde hof in Qazvin c. 1880 - 1895

Antoine Sevruguin made this albumen print of a house with a walled courtyard in Qazvin, Persia, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. Sevruguin, an Iranian photographer of Armenian and Georgian heritage, ran a commercial photography studio in Tehran. This image provides a glimpse into the architecture and social structure of Persia at a time when it was undergoing significant modernization. The walled compound suggests a society where privacy and security were highly valued, reflecting the traditional family structures and gender roles. Sevruguin’s photographs were popular with both locals and European tourists, and catered to both markets. Sevruguin's work, viewed through the lens of social history, offers a rich source of information. Archival research into photographic practices in Persia, along with studies of Persian social and architectural history, help us to understand this image not just as a depiction of a place, but as a cultural document.