“Melon Vendor” –Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii. We typically do not associate the Russian Empire with images like this one. Taken in 1911 by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, this photograph depicts a man at work as a melon vendor, dressed in the traditional Central Asian attire of a turban and flowing tunic. In the waning days of the … Continue reading Portrait of Imperial Russia →
Category: 1st Edition Posts
Snapshot of The Empire: Life of the Peasantry in Russia
by
•It’s the year 1915, the first world war is in full swing. Russia is fighting the Germans and Austro-Hungarian Empire on the eastern front. Death and destruction is everywhere. However, while this is happening a famous Russian photographer, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) is commissioned to complete something much more peaceful but no less powerful. What would be …
Continue reading Snapshot of The Empire: Life of the Peasantry in Russia
Hut of a Settler
by
•This photo was taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, in the Mugan Steppe area of the outer Caucasus region of the Russian Empire (Modern Day Azerbaijan). The photo depicts a “traditional Ukrainian house” built by peasant settlers, who moved to the outskirts of the Empire in hopes of finding arable and livable farming land on which … Continue reading Hut of a Settler →
Trans-Siberian Railway
by
•The vast territory of Russia often made it difficult for the empire to fully unite as a modernized, economically secure, and culturally homogeneous nation. The inability of the Russian government to connect with Siberia caused great concern as it would be unable to quickly and efficiently help in cases of invasion or famine. In addition … Continue reading Trans-Siberian Railway
Episode 1: The Phantom Railways
by
•By the middle of the 19th century the Russian Empire found itself lacking in reform and by the start of the 20th century it found itself in a questionable circumstance. Imperial Russia was late to the game in the industrialized arena, but it did attempt to westernize itself. In the process, the introduction of new […]
History of the Nilova Monastery
by
•The Photographer to the Tsar
by
•The Photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, photographer and chemist in the early 1900s, displayed the powerful Russian Empire pre-World War I and revolution with the use of colored photography, a new technique that he developed during the time. Supported by Tsar Nicholas II and with the aide of the Ministry of Transportation, Prokudin-Gorskii traveled in an … Continue reading The Photographer to the Tsar
Fisherman on the Iset’ River
by
•Church of the Resurrection
by
•Located on the banks of the Volga River, the city of Kostroma houses a prime example of 17th century Russian art; the Church of the Resurrection in the Grove. The church is the only surviving building in Kostroma that was built in the 17th century (Church of the Resurrection). It is not only admired by … Continue reading Church of the Resurrection
View of Kasli
by
•This 1910 photograph is the “View of Kasli” by photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii. Kasli, now in present day Chelyabinsk Oblast. I find this picture fascinating as it’s description pointed out the predominate points of the image, and the town, to be the massive churches (two on the left in the background, and in looking at the … Continue reading View of Kasli →