Images from the Endgame, Persia through a Russian Lens, 1901-1914

John Tchalenko.

Saqi Books Publishers in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation.

Alexander Ivanovitch Iyas, officer in the Tsar's Lithuanian Regiment, had arrived in Persia in 1901, in the small town of Turbat-i Haydari near the Afghan border. He was armed with several cameras, including the Kodak Panoram taking wide-angle images of 1420. As Head of the Quarantine Cordon his mission was to ensure that Bubonic Plague would not be carried to Russia by trading caravans coming from British India, but the British were convinced he was simply there to gather intelligence. In 1912 he was appointed Consul in Soujbulak, a Kurdish town south of Lake Urmiyeh near Persia's western border with Turkey. Throughout his years in Persia he documented with remarkable photographs the places, people and events he encountered, providing us today with a rare Russian point of view of the Great Game - the rivalry between Britain and Russia for the domination of Central Asia. Iyas was also a linguist and fluent in Persian, Kurmanji and Turkish, and his photographs betray a natural feeling for subject well in advance of the prevalent Orientalist approach of the times. The discovery of the Alexander Iyas collection of photographs of Persia 1901-1914 as well as his notes and memoires have unearthed a highly important archive which documents important aspects of the social history of Northeast Persia during a very critical and eventful period of the country's history. Iyas was assassinated during one of the opening battles of World War 1 on the Middle Eastern front. However, by a truly remarkable set of circumstances, his negatives, some of which had been recovered on a fallen Turkish officer during the Battle of Tabriz in 1915, and other parts of this important archive were saved and recently rediscovered. John Tchalenko has used this source material to produce a fascinating book.

John Tchalenko travelled extensively in Iran as an earthquake geologist, where he first came across the traces of Alexander Iyas. On researching Foreign Office archives he discovered that Iyas had been his great-uncle. Tchalenko is currently Reader in Drawing and Cognition at the University of the Arts, London.

The publication of this book coincides with an exhibition of 6o of Iyas's photographs at the Brunei Gallery in London from 9 October to 8 December 2006. See www.iranheritage.com/alexanderiyas/default.htm for details.

Get free postage and packing (world-wide) until 1 October 2006. In order to benefit from this offer, mention the 'Iran Heritage Foundation' when placing your order. Retail price 19.99 GBP (paper).

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