txt

Iran and the Changing Strategic Landscape of the Middle East

Past Exhibition

Qatar Museums

17 - 18 September 2025

Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies

9am-4.15pm
Free to attend

This digital exhibition, a collaboration between Qatar Museums (QM) and the Iranian Studies Unit at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS), explores the visual legacy of Iran’s royal history amid changing regional politics.

Share with a friend

Presented as part of the Iranian Studies Unit Annual Conference, this exhibition draws on the rich holdings of Qatar Museums’ General Collection to explore the visual legacy of Iran’s royal history within the wider context of shifting regional politics.

Featuring historic photographs, the display focuses on the Qajar royal family, with special attention to the voyages of Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar. It traces how Iran’s political image has been constructed and reinterpreted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when royal portraiture and ceremonial photography became tools of diplomacy, statecraft, and symbolic exchange with European powers.

Within this exhibition, photographs by Naser al-Din Shah (1890-1900) invite viewers to compare the royal lens—its ceremonies, palaces, and self-fashioning—with what was unfolding on the ground: boycotts, debt diplomacy, and contested sovereignty.

Pre-Revolution

The pre-1979 revolution photographs capture moments of diplomacy, ceremonial exchange and statecraft in the late 19th century, when Qajar Iran engaged with European powers through symbolic and cultural diplomacy.

txt

Unidentified Photographer, Portrait of members of the Royal court of Nasar al-Din Shah Qajar, the Shah of Persia, Persia, Iran, ca.1860-1869, Albumen print, 20.7 x 29.1 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.21653.01

txt

George Rodger, Beggar in front of a bank, Kuwait, Kuwait, ca. 1952, Gelatin Silver Print, 20.7 x 19.7 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19400

The British Bank of Iran and the Middle East

Founded in 1889 as the Imperial Bank of Persia under a royal charter in London and a concession from Naser al-Din Shah Qajar of Persia (Iran), the institution served as Iran’s central bank of issue and a tool of British financial imperialism. Over time, rising Iranian nationalism, the creation of the Iranian‐controlled Bank Melli in 1928, and restrictions on the bank’s operations reflected shifting power dynamics and the rise anti‐colonial politics. In 1949 it was renamed The British Bank of Iran and the Middle East as it expanded across the Gulf. Against the backdrop of mounting tensions, the bank withdrew from Iran by 1952, becoming the British Bank of the Middle East, later absorbed into HSBC.

txt

Erich Lessing, [Crop dusting, Iran], Iran, ca. 1952, Gelatin Silver Print, 35.9 x 53.9 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19016.26

Countries of the Gulf, bound not only by geography but also by politics, face common environmental hardships that ripple across borders. Environmental challenges often trigger a domino effect in the region: in 1952, locust swarms swept from Saudi Arabia into Iran, threatening the harvest. Before Soviet and U.S. pilots and specialists arrived to combat the infestation, farmers near Kazerun, outside Shiraz, resorted to dusting away the locusts from the crops.

alt text

Unidentified photographer, A Royal Photograph Montage, Qajar Persia, Iran, ca. 1860-1869, Albumen print, 46 x 62.3 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.3286

txt

Inge Morath, Magnum Photos, [Ruins outside Veramin], Iran, ca.1956, Gelatin Silver Print, 21.5 x 33.2 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.21869

alt text

Inge Morath, Magnum Photos, [Street Performer], Iran, ca. 1956, Gelatin Silver Print, 33.2 x 21.9 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.21877

alt text

Inge Morath, Magnum Photos, [A woman is spinning, Iran, 1956], Iran, ca. 1956, Gelatin Silver Print, 21.8 x 33.2 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.21873

alt text

Inge Morath, Magnum Photos, [Women singing with tambourine, Iran], Iran, ca. 1956, Gelatin Silver Print, 33.2 x 21.8 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.21884

alt text

Inge Morath, Magnum Photos, [Mountain Village, Iran, 1956], Iran, ca. 1956, Gelatin Silver Print, 21.8 x 33.2 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.21871

alt text

Inge Morath, Magnum Photos, [Villagers sifting grain for Ashura, Yazd], Yazd, Iran, ca. 1956, Gelatin Silver Print, 33.2 x 21.85 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.21876

alt text

Inge Morath, Magnum Photos, [Two Muslim clerics, Isfahan, Iran], Isfahan, Iran, ca. 1956, Gelatin Silver Print, 33.2 x 21.9 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.21875

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 17.9 x 23.9 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.66

[First Nasser al-Din Shah photo]

In 1890, Naser al-Din Shah granted a 50-year tobacco monopoly to a British syndicate, disrupting growers and bazaar merchants nationwide. A year later, Grand Ayatollah Mirza Hasan Shirazi’s fatwā sparked a sweeping boycott—so effective that the court abstained—forcing the concession’s annulment in January 1892 and a £500,000 compensation payout borrowed via the Imperial Bank of Persia. By 1900, under Mozaffar al-Din Shah, a £2 million Russian loan mortgaged customs revenues, while Belgian official Joseph Naus reorganised the customs service, raising receipts but deepening foreign control. Together these episodes reveal how everyday commodities, clerical authority, and external finance reshaped power in Qajar Iran—pressures that would crescendo in the Constitutional Revolution.

Within this exhibition, photographs by Naser al-Din Shah (1890-1900) invite viewers to compare the royal lens—its ceremonies, palaces, and self-fashioning—with what was unfolding on the ground: boycotts, debt diplomacy, and contested sovereignty.

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Emam-azam (Great Imam), Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 16.4 x 21.7 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.78

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 27.8 x 21 cm, Qatar Museum / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.143

txt

Nasser al-Din Shah, Congrès religieux au Palais Shah (Religious congress at the Shah’s Palace), Tehran, Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 20.9 x 28.2 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.03

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Entrée du Gouvernement de Mazenderan Entrée du gouverneur (Entrance of the Government of Mazandaran Entrance of the governor), Mazandaran Province, Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 18.5 x 24.2 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.87

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 17.7 x 24 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.113

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 18.9 x 23.8 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.94

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 23.8 x 19.2 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.80

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, à Kaboud Gombed au milieu de Kalatte (At Kabud Gombed in the middle of Kalat), Razavi Khorasan, Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print,21.4 x 17.2 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.62

Situated on the high plateau of Kalat-e Nāderi in northeastern Iran, Kabud Gonbad lies within a natural fortress favoured for its strategic value. Photographs from this frontier region capture not only its dramatic landscapes but also its place in the shifting geopolitics of the late 19th century. In the 1890s, as the Russian Empire consolidated power across the border with its Trans-Caspian Railway, Kalat’s position took on new significance for Qajar Iran. Though spared direct conflict, the district symbolised Iran’s vulnerability at a time when great-power rivalry shaped the politics of its borderlands.

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Kasimein aleihomas salam (Kasimein, peace be upon them), ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 16.4 x 21.5 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.12

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, fils du Sheik Abdul Nouwaf Ed dine (son of Sheikh Abdul Nouwaf Ed dine), ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 19.9 x 13.6 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection . IMM.PH.PH.19409.147

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Général russe Kouropatkine Commandant en chef des troupes russes Guerre russo-japonaise (Russian General Kuropatkin Commander-in-chief of the Russian troops Russo-Japanese War), ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 21.8 x 13.8 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.13

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Farangi (Foreigner), ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 17.7 x 23.9 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.48

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran, ca. 1890-1900, 17.7 x 23.7 cm, Albumen print, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.59

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Hopital anglais à Téhéran (English Hospital in Tehran), Tehran, Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print,18.3 x 24.2 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.60

Some early Western-inspired hospitals in Iran were established by foreign communities and significantly impacted Iran's healthcare system. The Qajar public health was heavily entangled with imperial diplomacy and foreign expertise.

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 19.2 x 22.6 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.81

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Turcomans (Turkmens), ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 17.3 x 20.1 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.124

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Le Shah et sa suite (The Shah and his entourage), ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 17.2 x 22.3 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.95

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 17 x 22.9 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.112

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 21.6 x 14 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.83

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 19.1 x 24.1 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.76

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Vue Générale de Kasbine hôtel de Kasbine à mi-chemin de la route de Recht à Téhéran (General view of Kasbine Hotel in Kasbine, halfway along the road from Recht to Tehran), Qazvin, Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 21 x 27.5 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.06

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 20.7 x 27.8 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.106

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Albumen print from a collection of The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 17.2 x 23.1 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.36

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, La grande Mosquée à Téhéran (The Great Mosque in Tehran), Tehran, Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 17.2 x 22.2 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.51

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Le palais et le parc particuliers de Zil-es-sultan (The private palace and park of Zil-es-Sultan), Tehran, Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 21 x 26.9 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.84

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Turcomans jouant de la cithare à Asterabad bords de la mer Caspienne (Turkmen playing the zither in Asterabad on the shores of the Caspian Sea), ca. 1890-1900, Albumen print, 21.5 x 15.1 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.04

alt text

Nasser al-Din Shah, Famille Royale du Shah d'Iran, et voyage en Iran (The Royal Family of the Shah of Iran and a Voyage through Iran), Iran, ca. 1890-1900, Albumen Print, 21 x 27.9 cm, Qatar Museums / General Collection. IMM.PH.PH.19409.123

The exhibition invites visitors to consider how visual culture both reflects and shapes Iran’s evolving role in the region. From the courtly splendour of Qajar diplomacy to the early encounters of modern statehood, these images offer a rare lens through which to view continuity, rupture and transformation in Iranian state identity.

You May Also Like

tbc

Beyti Beytak. My Home is Your Home. La mia casa è la tua casa

The exhibition explores themes of hospitality as embodied in architecture and urban landscapes through 30 architectural works by pioneering modern architects.