Of course, he who was trained in photography in his country, finally took up his task and recorded the first Persian photo at the Golestan Palace by the Dagrotayep technique.

Since unfortunately, none evidences has not yet been found or published from this historical photo, we also do not correctly know whether at that historical moment the Shah of Iran was finally lulled and subdued by the magic of the camera and posed as the photographer wanted, or The Shah created a royal pose and gesture of which himself desired like the tradition of his predecessors in the encounter of painters.

Although the Russians, in response to the official request of Mohammad Shah Qajar, had abducted the upper hand from their British and French counterparts, the situation did not continue. Only after a short time, Julius Richard was the second person to come to Iran to respond to King’s request from France. In fact, he can be considered the first European photographer who came to Iran in 1844 (1223 AD) and engaged in photography and training. He later became known as Richard Khan in the period of king Naser-Al-Din-Shah, in addition to teaching photography in the court of Iran, he taught in the field of photography at that time in Dar Al Fonoun (the first European-class higher education school in Iran). Perhaps many of the first portraits of the Iranians who were studying in the Dar Al Fonoun have been taken by Richard Khan during those years.

But in fact, the peak of the flourishing and development of this art-industry in Iran can be attributed to the period of Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar (1848-1848) / (1275-1227AD). Nasseruddin Mirza had been acquainted with photography during his adolescence when he was crown prince. He later became so enthralled and enthusiastic about photography on his long journeys to Europe that he decided to take the camera himself.

The charm of this most advanced technology in that era so tempted the king that during the nearly half century of his monarchy he has recorded more than hundreds of photos of his favorite, wives, interesting subjects, people and even the most private court issues. In order to carry out technical affairs related to the emergence, printing and maintenance of these expensive photos, even he dedicated several special rooms of Golestan Palace to this fascinating skill, named the Akkas-Khane Mobarakeh Houmayoni.

You can read some of reasons why Iranian king has been so seriously and so interesting in photography, pursued in a collection entitled ” THE PHOTOGRAPH AND THE ALBUM” by a group of authors.

It seems that Nasir al-Din Shah, in addition to himself was enjoying of this artistic industry, was aware of the growing importance of this new modernity instrument. So he ordered to encourage and support the foreigner professors to teach photography at the academy due to this increasing importance. It is interesting to know that in the Nasser period, even several books on photography from French and English were translated into Farsi.

Some famous foreign professors teaching photography at the Dar-Al-Funon:

1- August Karl Krziz from Austria

2- Fuketi from Italy

3. Luigi Pesce from Italy

4. Luigi Montabone from Italy

5. Franklin Carlhian from France

The last French teacher (of the list above) was the one who directly taught the photography to the king and taught the first Iranian Photographer Agha Reza Akas Bashi.

As it was reviewed, to get photography to Iran as a souvenir that brought a new product of the modernity of European, was widely welcomed by the king, court and the people.

One of the most important requirements of using this attractive technology was the presence and activity of a significant number of European professors and professional photographers in Iran, although some ones who were interested in photography had begun to train in this field. In this way, not only were the first photographs taken by foreigner photographers, but also they were who used and taught artistic issues, arrangement, gesture, poses, background and the other subjects of photography to their Iranian students for the first time.

Portrait photography in Iran is as old as the photography itself. in the other word, the first and the most photos taken by the arrival of the cameras in Iran in the nineteenth century at the same time as the Qajar dynasty may’ve been portrait.

Indeed, in portrait photography, the subject of photography, which is a human face or body, has a great deal of importance and several factors such as the position of the subject, body shape, facial expression (gesture), other objects in the photo, layout, background, framing, and lighting in the production of a portrait play a significant role.

Undoubtedly, the inner struggle between the subject and the photographer on the formulation of a portrait that began by the first photograph in Golestan Palace did not end there, and whatever this art-industry was more developed and more popular among the court and the people, the formulation of a portrait also found more variety.

So, many scholars believe that the gestures, forms and compositions of European photos, along with this novelty, have entered Iranian images/photos and have become more stable over time. And, in contrast, other scholars have found the presence of Iranians’ long-term illustration traditions among painters and artists as a more effective factor in shaping and portraying portrait of the Qajar era.

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Kandovan Village is located 60 kilometers southwest of Tabriz in Sahand Rural District, in the Central District of Osku County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. It is popular for its magnificent rocky architecture which is the result of volcanic activities and hand-carved structures. The village was registered in Iran’s National Heritage, and it has a worldwide reputation and is the only rocky village in the world which is still inhabited. There are two other cliff villages which are not inhabited with similar structures in the world; Cappadocia in Turkey and Dakota in America.

Etymology

It’s known as Kandovan because the rocky houses in this village look like hives. (Also Kand means village in Turkish)

It has been said in the history of Kandovan that the first group to settle in the region were residents of a village called Hilevar, 2 km away from Kandovan. They migrated to this area escaping from Mongols and started to carve the Karans to build themselves a safe refuge.

Architecture

The history of this wonderful village gets backs to 6000 years ago.  Some researches of archeology have estimated its age up to 7000 years old.

Village architecture is one of its wonders. Kandovan is a rocky village and the thickness of walls is very thin and about 2 meters. The rock acts as an energy efficient material, keeping the house cool during summer and warm during winter. The heights of these rocks are about 40 meters.

There are sharp pyramidal cliffs with the holes on their irregular surfaces in this village which have been created due to volcano eruption in the region of the Sahand Mountain Range. The cliffs have shaped hive cells which are also known as Karan. Generally, Most of these Karans has two floors and in some cases, three and even four floors that they are not related to each other from the inside.

The inhabitants carved every room of the cliff houses like kitchens, halls, and even pens out of stone to make windows for the rooms and later, to decorate them with colorful glasses.

Village

Since the Kandovan is located on the slopes of the Sahand Mountains, it has a great climate and there are plenty of greenery and landscapes around it. The fruitful plains of the region provide nomads with a possibility to breed honey bees and grow medicinal herbs, both sources of income for the locals. The people of this village are more farmers and ranchers.

It is the only rocky village in the world which is still inhabited and currently, 117 families live in the village. The village has a mosque, public bath, school, a mill, souvenir shops, buffet and restaurant.

Souvenir

The most famous souvenir of Kandovan is Honey. Apricots and sour cherries, dried fruit, rugs and jajim are other souvenirs of Kandovan.

Mineral water springs of Kandovan are also well-known and basically used for treatment of kidney disease.

Best Season to Visit

The best season to visit Kandovan is spring and summer. It is not a favorite destination in autumn and winters since it gets so cold. The minimum temperature of Kandovan is 13° C and the maximum 25° C in summer. Visiting this village will take 2 hours up to one day.

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