Vier gebouwen langs een weg in Perzië, waarschijnlijk telegraafkantoren c. 1880 - 1895

Antoine Sevruguin captured this photograph of four buildings, likely telegraph offices, along a road in Persia. The image offers a glimpse into Persia's encounter with modernity, probably in the late 19th century. The telegraph, a symbol of global communication networks, appears here as a set of buildings, neatly ordered along the roadside. It’s tempting to view this image as a straightforward record, but we must consider the social and cultural conditions that made such a photograph possible. Sevruguin, an artist of Armenian, Georgian, and Russian descent, operated a commercial photography studio in Tehran. His business catered to European travelers eager to collect images of the "exotic" East. How might the needs and expectations of Sevruguin’s patrons have shaped his photographs? What role did these images play in shaping Western perceptions of Persia? To understand this image more deeply, one might consult travelogues, diplomatic archives, and studies of modernization in Persia. Considering the photograph's relationship to broader social and institutional contexts can tell us much about the public role of art.