What a compelling image you chose! Your vivid description of the melon vendor really captures the imagination. I wonder, though, about whether the photograph highlights a contradiction between traditional and more modern economic patterns, or if the melon vendor was the norm for early twentieth-century (pre-Soviet) Uzbekistan? (Also, great blog title!)
Monasteries and political prisoners — what a combination! I really appreciate how you’ve delved into the past (and “future”) of Prokudin-Gorsky’s photographs. And charting the monastery’s association with political repression — going back to Ivan the Terrible — really makes you pause.How do you think local residents regard the monastery now?
I’m so glad you found that terrific source in the Current Digest from Moskovkie novosti about the film Solovetsky Power. It’s a very compelling documentary — and it’s on YouTube! https://youtu.be/2MKp0WL8Fgk
Good job citing the source of your image. Also, I love the title of this post!
I really enjoy the juxtaposition of the picture, a serene monastery, with the horrifying history of the place that you detail so well. It is particularly ironic that this was also an attempted tourist attraction for two reasons, one that it is a monast…
You brought up some very good points through talking about this photo by Prokudin-Gorskii’s and posed some important questions. I also can not recall anything specific about the Kazahks or the Uzbeks occurring over the Soviet area. Where simply forgotten as an separate people and lumped into the Russian/Soviet society like you suggest with there lose of identity. Furthermore, the question you pose at the end is very interesting. Did the majority of these people in ethnic groups flee elsewhere during the war and then following revolution? How where they treated under the Soviet rule? Hopefully we can further learn these things throughout the class.
I enjoy the photo you picked for how well it captures, as you mentioned, an average day in the life at that particular time in Russia. Even without the specifics of exactly who these people are it gives a sense of their work and the mood of the time. It is particularly interesting to me that the women in the background behind the wooden press are there. They look like they are taking a short break from work themselves. What are they doing? Would they be expected to help with the hay or are they more agricultural workers from some local crops?
I really enjoy how you pointed out how powerful the church is in this time. It greatly dominated life. Thinking about how often images of churches or monasteries appear throughout Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii’s work further proves your point about the domination that the church held. Also, the sheer size of the churches compared to their surroundings further shows the massive importance that the church holds.
