Photos of Elizabeth Taylor in Iran, 1976

In 1976 Elizabeth Taylor visited Iran for the first and only time. Accompanying her was Firooz Zahedi, a recent art school graduate just learning his craft, who has since gone on to become a successful Hollywood photographer.

The actress beams upward at the sunlight in the city of Shiraz at the tomb of Hafez, the controversial 14th-century poet

Elizabeth Taylor takes a tourist’s snapshot in Persepolis

Taylor appears covered outside the Shah Chirag Shrine in Shiraz, top left, in this assemblage of four black-and-white photos

A set of four black-and-whites, this time at another mosque in Shiraz

A close-up outside the Shah Chirag Shrine

In profile in front of dazzling mosaic and tile work, Taylor stands by the tomb of the poet Sa’di

Covered by a scarf, Taylor takes tea in an old teahouse in Isfahan, a designated World Heritage Site and once the capital of Persia

At the teahouse, a close-up of Taylor with downcast eyes

A close-up of Taylor outside a Shiraz mosque, framed by architectural elements

Taylor poses with a single flower

While in Isfahan, Taylor stayed at the Shah Abbas hotel, a converted royal palace. Here, Zahedi contrasts photos of the palace’s soaring ceilings with those of Taylor applying makeup

Taylor donned an ensemble that Zahedi says is typical of those worn by tribal women, adding hot-pink lipstick

(via Vanity Fair and LACMA)