Shadi Ghadirian
Untitled from the Qajar Series 1998

Not on view

Sepia-toned studio portrait photograph, young woman in black hijab and dark jacket seated full-length in carved chair, holding an aluminum beverage can, ornate painted backdrop behind her

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 7/16 x 6 3/8 in. (23.97 x 16.19 cm); Sheet: 9 15/16 x 8 in. (25.24 x 20.32 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Art of the Middle East Acquisition Fund, Art of the Middle East Deaccession Fund, the 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.2008.35.9
Classification: Photographs
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Contemporary
Curatorial Notes: Inspired by the studio portraiture of the late nineteenth century, Shadi Ghadirian re-created the earlier settings in a set of thirty-three photographs known as the Qajar series. She employed painted backdrops and dressed her models in vintage clothes to emulate the fashion of the day—headscarves and short skirts worn over baggy trousers, and thick, black eyebrows. She added modern-day elements, such as a pair of sunglasses (M.2008.35.1), a Pepsi can (M.2008.35.9), and a single-lens reflex camera (M.2008.35.14) to create ironic imagery that reflects the tension between tradition and modernity in Iranian society.
Selected Bibliography: Issa, Rose, ed. Shadi Ghadirian: Iranian Photographer. London: Saqi Books, 2008.
Komaroff, Linda. Collecting Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art: A Curatorial Perspective. Los Angeles: Art Catalogues; LACMA, 2017.
Komaroff, Linda. In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: DelMonico Books-Prestel, 2018.
Komaroff, Linda. "Islamic Art Now and Then." In Islamic Art: Past, Present, Future, edited by Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom, 26-56. New Haven, New York, and London: Yale University Press, 2019.
Copyright: © Shadi Ghadirian

Shadi Ghadirian
Untitled from the Qajar Series 1998

Not on view

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 7/16 x 6 3/8 in. (23.97 x 16.19 cm); Sheet: 9 15/16 x 8 in. (25.24 x 20.32 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Art of the Middle East Acquisition Fund, Art of the Middle East Deaccession Fund, the 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.2008.35.9
Classification: Photographs
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Contemporary
Curatorial Notes: Inspired by the studio portraiture of the late nineteenth century, Shadi Ghadirian re-created the earlier settings in a set of thirty-three photographs known as the Qajar series. She employed painted backdrops and dressed her models in vintage clothes to emulate the fashion of the day—headscarves and short skirts worn over baggy trousers, and thick, black eyebrows. She added modern-day elements, such as a pair of sunglasses (M.2008.35.1), a Pepsi can (M.2008.35.9), and a single-lens reflex camera (M.2008.35.14) to create ironic imagery that reflects the tension between tradition and modernity in Iranian society.
Selected Bibliography: Issa, Rose, ed. Shadi Ghadirian: Iranian Photographer. London: Saqi Books, 2008.
Komaroff, Linda. Collecting Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art: A Curatorial Perspective. Los Angeles: Art Catalogues; LACMA, 2017.
Komaroff, Linda. In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: DelMonico Books-Prestel, 2018.
Komaroff, Linda. "Islamic Art Now and Then." In Islamic Art: Past, Present, Future, edited by Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom, 26-56. New Haven, New York, and London: Yale University Press, 2019.