Why the Master Disliked Photographs

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the true Exemplar of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, demonstrated detachment from what Bahá’u’lláh calls the ‘Kingdom of Names’ by His actions. Throughout His life, He never wished to exalt His name nor did He seek publicity for Himself. For instance, He had an immense dislike of being photographed. He said, ‘... to have a picture of oneself is to emphasize the personality ...’ During the first few days of His visit to London, He refused to be photographed. However, as a result of much pressure by the newspaper reporters, and persistent pleas by the friends to take His photograph, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá acquiesced in order to make them happy.

Source: Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, vol. 2, pp. 40–41, quoting Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, p. 165.

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: abdul-baha-portrait).

Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/abdul-baha-portrait