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Collections

Shadi Ghadirian
Untitled from the Qajar Series 1998

Not on view
Sepia-toned full-length portrait photograph of a standing figure in a dark silk wrap and face veil, with a white head covering, against a painted studio backdrop

Shadi Ghadirian, Untitled from the Qajar Series, 1998, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by the Art of the Middle East Acquisition Fund, Art of the Middle East Deaccession Fund, Ralph M. Parsons Fund, the Joan Palevsky Bequest, by exchange, and Catherine Benkaim, with additional funds provided by Angella and David Nazarian, digital image © Museum Associates / LACMA

Artist or Maker
Shadi Ghadirian
Iran, Tehran, born 1974
Title
Untitled from the Qajar Series
Date Made
1998
Medium
Gelatin-silver bromide print
Dimensions
Image: 9 1/2 x 6 3/8 in. (24.13 x 16.1925 cm); Sheet: 9 15/16 x 7 15/16 in. (25.24 x 20.16 cm)
Credit Line
Purchased with funds provided by the Art of the Middle East Acquisition Fund, Art of the Middle East Deaccession Fund, Ralph M. Parsons Fund, the Joan Palevsky Bequest, by exchange, and Catherine Benkaim, with additional funds provided by Angella and David Nazarian
Accession Number
M.2008.35.5
Classification
Photographs
Collecting Area
Art of the Middle East: Contemporary
Curatorial Notes

This photograph is from a series of thirty-three portraits by Shadi Ghadirian, a contemporary artist who was inspired by the studio portraiture first introduced to Iran in the late nineteenth century under the Qajar dynasty (1794–1925). In order to re-create the earlier setting, Ghadirian employs painted backdrops and dresses her models in vintage clothes to emulate the fashion of the day: headscarves and short skirts worn over baggy trousers, as well as thick, black eyebrows. She adds modern elements to these traditional scenes, such as a Pepsi can, a boom box, a bicycle and an avant-garde Tehran newspaper. She has said of her work, "My pictures became a mirror reflecting how I felt: we are stuck between tradition and modernity."



Selected Bibliography
  • Issa, Rose, ed. Shadi Ghadirian: Iranian Photographer. London: Saqi Books, 2008.
Copyright
© Shadi Ghadirian