Social History of Taste in the Qajar Period through Analyzing Photographs of Different Social Classes

Historical photographs are essential tools utilized to study and analyze the social history of different periods; in addition to providing visual information, they have implicit implications for other senses, including the sense of taste. Extracting elements related to the taste in photographs and matching them with the written sources can reveal the relationship between the social position and the sense of taste, the way of cooking, the ingredients, and the way of serving the food. Many photographs taken in the Qajar period include elements and behaviours related to the foods. In the current article, using the social history of the senses to analyze photographs, we examined the sense of taste in photographs of different social classes in the Qajar period. The critical question of this research is: "what are the differences in the sense of taste in various social classes in the Qajar era, and how is it reflected in the social photographs of the same period?" The results show that in the photographs recorded during this period, food and related elements in the upper of the social class pyramid were used not only to tame hunger but also to present an aesthetic and luxurious aspect and the glory in banquets such as Ashkhoran, an annual feast of the king. In these classes, a large volume of high-quality food is used together in one meal. While the meals of the lower social classes were more uncomplicated and, regardless of aesthetics, were consumed for necessity and urgency.