For many of us, tea is so commonplace that we don’t often think of its impact and origins beyond the fact that most tea comes from China. However, this tiny leaf has quite the story and impact on the Russian cultural landscape. Tea leaves first made their way to Russia by way of Northern China […]
Month: January 2017
The Weapons Cabinet
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Founded in 1754, Zlatoust became “a center of finished metal production, including armaments.” Metal work was so important in the town that in 1825 Pavel Petrovich Anosov built a weaponry museum dedicated to the armaments made in Zlatoust. Anosov was also the director of the “thriving” factory in Zlatoust from 1831 to 1847. Years later in […]
Zlatoust Factories
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This picture interested me because of the juxtaposition of the church and the factory next to it. To me, it symbolized the move from a non-secular state to a more secular state. As George Freeze mentioned, the late 1800’s was … Continue reading →
Kasli’s Iron Legacy
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One of the many aims of Tsar Alexander II’s Great Reforms was to modernize the Russian economy in order to compete with Western Europe. The Industrial Revolution had recently ushered in an enormous production and population boom in Europe. At the same time, Russia failed to keep up with its western counterparts. Russian infrastructure was severely lacking, […]
Czar of the Sands
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This image, captured by photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii in the early Twentieth Century, was taken near the current city of Mary in Turkmenistan. It is among ruins of the former city of Merv, which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. The famed ancient city was once the biggest city in the world …
Warehouse for Mineral Water in Borzhom
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From the World Digital Library’s Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Collection: Warehouse for Mineral Water. Borzhom. The picture I chose is a warehouse for mineral water in Borzhom. It was captured by Prokudin-Gorskii in 1912. During the early 1800s, the area was turned … Continue reading →
The Development of Russian Railways
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Steam Engine “Kompaund” with a Schmidt Super-Heater Photograph Background Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii made several trips around the Ural Mountains where he photographed railway installations and other urban scenes. Pictured above is a “Kompaund” (Compound) locomotive of the Ab132 type, meaning it was produced at the Briansk locomotive factory, today Russia’s largest locomotive enterprise, in 1909. These locomotives … Continue reading The Development of Russian Railways
From Railways to Revolution
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The photograph above was taken by Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii. It was a photo of the Headquarters of the Urals Railway Administration building in the City of Perm in 1909. Railroads were first introduced in Russia in the 1830s. By 1951 Russia had its first commercial railway that went from St. Petersburg to Moscow. […]
Russia’s Inherited Geographies
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Prokudin-Gorskii travelled throughout the Russian empire trying document a visual Russia. His work features numerous beautiful landscapes and interesting people whose vivid colors attract attention, but I think some of the more striking pictures are the ones that feature people with hauntingly somber faces seemingly absorbed in their own life. In particular, I find […]
Who let the dogs out?
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At first glance, this looks like a picture of dogs relaxing in the autumn sun, but little do many viewers realize, they are resting less than 15 feet from a building that stores dynamite and other explosives. Although it doesn’t seem to be bothering the dogs. Maybe the dogs are supposed to be guarding the… Continue reading Who let the dogs out? →
