Books published by Visual Studies of Modern Iran

This catalogue is one of the first visual representations of the material religion and art objects of Naser al-Din Shah's court, vis à vis popular Shiite beliefs during the Naseri period (1848-1896). In this work, Pedram Khosronejad has paid special attention to the role of Naser al-Din Shah's popular Shiite values in shaping attitudes toward the depiction in portraiture of the Prophet Mohammad and Imam Ali.Khosronejad's observations further confirm Naser al-Din Shah's deep-rooted connections to popular Shiite beliefs and related superstitions, along with his interest in Shiite rituals and ceremonies.Thierry Zarcone, Directeur de recherche, Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités, CNRS, France.

This book is the first of its kind to use photographs of Iran's Qajar period to prove the level of ability of the medium to document and simultaneously pathologise the history, culture, story, and maybe struggle of African slave communities in Qajar Iran.