This book, Iran, by Inge Morath, as featured by the NYT T Magazine, looks so fascinating.  Morath, an Austrian-born photographer who later married playwright Arthur Miller, was sent by Holiday Magazine to capture images of Iran in 1956, putting her in the country at a peaceful time between the 1953 coup and the 1979 Revolution. 

 

 Though she was instructed by Holiday to capture two largely predictable themes– mosques and Persian rugs– she delved much deeper than that and captured everything from the ruins of Persepolis, to the Shah celebrating the new year, to children at work.  The resulting photos give a rare glimpse into the country at peace. 

 

Love this, from the NYT Magazine: “As “Reading Lolita in Tehran” author Azar Nafisi says in an essay about Morath’s work, ‘In some of Morath’s photographs I felt that there was an affinity between that feeling of being overwhelmed by a past that is so huge and a present that is evasive and inaccessible.’”

Click through for more photos…

Makes me so curious to know more about Iran, both then and now… seems like all we usually see is very one-dimensional view of a country so rich with history, culture, and beauty.

From the NYT T Magazine, article here.

Book available on Amazon here.

Doesn’t that cabin above look perfect for a summer weekend?

…a few evocative images from the poetic blog 46th at grace that remind me that summer’s coming…