Once upon a time Isfahan

Javad Mellat Photography

Photographed by:

Javad Mellat Ardakani

Short description

Once upon a time in Isfahan, architects and laborers for a livelihood created buildings based on their expertise and experience accumulated over the years, never dreaming that these creations would one day be recognized not only as enduring works of art, but also as the world's "manifestation of art."
Once upon a time, I began shooting the same monuments in my undergraduate years when I was in my early thirties. They were unnoticed for three years, with the assumption that those photographs had served their purpose in my life. Until recently, their memories remained hidden when I managed to come upon them while browsing through old images. My reintroduction to these images and their selection from among all documented photographs was as fortuitous as history's selection of these works from among all the works created by our forefathers.
These photographs reflect a period of my life spent in Isfahan. If humans did not cause these constructions by force in the past, and if Javad did not shoot these frames one day, instead of reading this, you would be doing something now that "neither you know nor do I."
All these photos were taken in Isfahan, one of the most well-known cities in the world because of its rich history and culture. Places where these photos were shot are Royal Mosque (Masjid-i-Shah), Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Jameh Mosque of Isfahan, and Chehel Sotoun.