Saving Iran's history, a photo from Fars, East

Photographer's Note

The last photograph that I posted to TrekEarth was an exterior shot of the Arg-é Karim Khani (Citadel of Karim Khan) in the centre of Shiraz. Inside, the citadel is divided into the military quarters and the residential palace. The palace had many beautifully painted rooms, but in 1932 the citadel was turned into a prison and all the painted walls were plastered over. In 1981 the citadel was handed over to the then Office of Art and Culture (now the Office of Cultural Heritage of Fars) which is gradually restoring the rooms to their former glory.

The restoration project is a painstaking process and it takes a team of four men (a restoration architect and four artisans) five years to restore one room. The plaster has to be carefully removed, trying to leave the paint on the wall underneath, and then touched up. If the plaster cannot be removed without putting the paint off, then the artists will repaint that part of the wall copying the designs from other parts of the room.

In this picture the restoration architect, who is supervising the project, is touching up a section of the painted wall that was able to be saved. Below and in the alcove to his right you will see a part of the wall that was not able to be saved, and this is where they will reproduce the patterns from other parts of the room.

This was taken with a wide angle lens (18 mm) to show you almost the full height of the room and about two thirds of the width. Most of the rooms being restored are about this size. When restoration is complete, the residential palace will be opened to the public as a museum.

I have posted to the workshop a photograph taken in one of the other rooms where restoration has just started to show you what the walls looked like in the days that the citadel was used as a prison.

PP: Adjusted levels and sharpened.

PS: I think these could be the first photographs of this restoration project posted on the Internet. I did an extensive Internet search to try and find out more information about this project, but I could find nothing (I got all the above information from my guide in Shiraz who is a friend of the restoration architect)

Izobretenik, PJE, abdolrashidi, fireflyz, capthaddock, tonyking, Clairedelune, orme, dsidwell, keribar, cjmm heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

Izobretenik (1268) 2006-06-22 10:00

As always, a very interesting photograph considering the importance of such a project. I don't know why your picture get just a few visits without any comments. I won't critic the technical abilities going through you composition (pretty nice by the way) and will concentrate on reading the note.

Thank you for sharing !

Izo

kensimage (8563) 2006-06-22 11:27

You must have had some good connections to get into this place, David--they're presumably not letting many people in, if there are no photos on the internet. It should be pretty spectacular when it's done--it's already beautiful. Thanks for sharing it with us. Nice POV for the shot, to bring out the full beauty. Regards, Ken.

PJE (20758) 2006-06-22 18:27

David what an incredible amount of work here. I thought I spent too much time in my workshop making intricate wood pieces, but this seems to surpass what I could ever even attempt to accomplish. Very well presented photo and the workshop really shows the amount of restoration that is still ahead. Too bad they had to use it for a prison in the first place!

fireflyz (2097) 2006-06-23 18:54 [Comment]

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capthaddock (28790) 2006-06-25 20:17

Hi David - may the restoration continue, the lavishly ornate interior looks so different than the more time raveged exterior, having the artisan in the frame along with the ws photo really puts into context what is going on and makes a very effective and complete documentary.

tonyking (1612) 2006-06-27 5:36

Hi David,
Bringing scenes like this to our attention is, to me, one of the really great things about TE. Your image is beautifully presented. The composition has worked well, the colours are nice, and the detail and image quality are both outstanding. As good as all these things are, it's your note that is really special. Given the mission statement for TE, I think it's this excellent, informative text that makes a huge difference. I definately learned a lot from this one posting. Thanks for that.
Excellent work, David.

Best wishes,
Tony

Clairedelune (4923) 2006-06-28 20:14

Hi David,
I'm always happy to learn that people decide to restore their own precious buildings. And amazed to see that at some time, they plastered over those magnificent walls. Incredible! I am attracted to this picture because it was one craft I would have been very happy to do. It ask for patience, attention to tiny details and perfectionism. Very informative note, thank you! I envy the fact that you had the chance to visit that palace! Nice to have included the roof.
Claire

Kenny10pin (19301) 2006-07-06 11:12

very nice angle here, the details, pattens are wonderful, well done

colinbrenchley (6431) 2006-07-09 5:36

David
Good use of wide angle lens to show the maximum views to the decoration of this room. Imagine that these walls were plastered over! Low POV works well.
Regards Colin

orme (7219) 2006-07-09 11:16

I like the angle of your shot here, David.
Even though the citadel needed restoration, it is still very impressive.
Excellent note.

dsidwell (9783) 2006-07-09 22:36

Super documenting of this important work, David. The worker finds himself in a strong position in this composition. I like how he is surrounded by such lovely artwork that he is restoring. NIce choices!

t0mmm1 (5442) 2006-07-12 6:33

Hi David,
beautiful picture with a great note. I like your wide angle view with all those beautiful colours. It must be a real challenge for an artist (restorator?) to do this and he must be really proud of his work. And we all should be thankfull for what he do.

MIG13 (0) 2006-07-22 19:48

Hi, David! Very interesting capture, showing the way it is possible to keep well the treasures of the past. Good note too! Thanks for sharing! Greetings from Rio! Miguel.

keribar (43841) 2006-08-07 0:27

Hello David,

I appreciate the fact that you decided to take the working man, and show us the decorated wall in the best angle.

Good picture and good note too.
Izzet

Angshu (56760) 2006-08-21 3:38

Hello David
What you show us in this photograph is incredible..You have presented the photo & that of the workshop really well to show us the lavishly beautiful interiors & the modern day artist (restores are nothing short of that) working painstakingly with the renovation process
Regards
Angshu

cjmm (4479) 2006-08-23 11:51

Hi David,

I like very much this post, both for the photo (included that of the workshop) and note. In this one I specially like the vertical composition, low POV and the use of WA lens.

But most all, this is a post that I like as a whole.

Kind regards,
Carlos