The Inheritance

Some years ago, my mother inherited a document containing a series of photographs of women taken in late 19th century Iran.

These tiny portraits had been carelessly cut and pasted next to each other and reproduced as a sort of oversized carte-de-visite with multiple images.

To understand the significance of this document, I began a search through books, archives and libraries. At the end, I discovered that conventional research could not reveal much about the identity of these women or the circumstances of their lives. I understood that no source of information exists outside of the images themselves.

This is where my project started...

In memory of Mah-Talat Vazir Nezami who appreciated "small things".

This project was made possible with a grant from The Canada Council for the Arts.

click here to see current exhibit

YASSAMAN AMERI’S TALK ON THE INHERITANCE SERIES