Téhéran

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Tehran, Qajar King Royal Gardens; IranBiblio.com

Historical Photography of Iran: Molteni Radiguet & Massiot Glass Lantern Slide Showing Tehran's Urban Development 1905

1905rif. 144261905. Molteni Radiguet & Massiot. Vue Prise du Palais du Shah Les Nouveaux Quartiers de Téhéran 1905. Original photographic glass lantern slide recording an elevated view from the Shah's palace in Tehran during the reign of Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar 1896-1907. The image encompasses the royal palace gardens and surrounding urban landscape with the developing districts of Tehran extending into the distance. Its French title translating to "View Taken from the Shah's Palace the New Districts of Tehran" specifically identifies the city's expanding neighborhoods. Dating from the final years of Qajar absolute monarchy the photograph records Tehran immediately before the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911 which led to the establishment of a constitutional government and the opening of Persia's first national parliament in 1906. Vue Prise du Palais du Shah Les Nouveaux Quartiers de Téhéran. Paris: Projections Molteni Radiguet & Massiot 1905. Original gelatin silver bromide positive glass lantern slide measuring 8.5 x 10 cm. The photograph presents a broad elevated perspective overlooking the palace gardens toward Tehran's surrounding buildings and newer residential districts. The slide bears the French title "VUE PRISE DU PALAIS DU SHAH-LES NOUVEAUX QUARTIERS DE TEHERAN" and the publisher's identification "Projections Molteni Radiguet & Massiot 15 bd des filles du calvaire-Paris." Produced for projection through an optical or magic lantern the glass transparency could be enlarged onto a screen for public lectures educational presentations and illustrated travel programs. The Parisian optical firm Molteni was acquired in 1899 by Arthur Radiguet and Georges Massiot who continued manufacturing photographic projection equipment and lantern slides for scientific educational and public presentations. Arthur Radiguet a pioneer in electrical and optical instruments who also worked extensively with early X-ray technology died in 1905. The firm's distribution of photographic views brought images of distant cities and historic sites before European audiences through projected lectures. This Tehran view records the Qajar capital during a period of urban expansion and political unrest with its French inscription identifying the newer neighborhoods as the principal subject. The surviving glass positive preserves an early twentieth-century photographic view of the city before subsequent phases of modernization under the Pahlavi dynasty. In very good condition. unknown