Russia circa 1910

[chimx]

Are any of you familiar with the works of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii? He was a Russian photographer that developed probably one of the first color photo processes. In 1910 he was commissioned by Czar Nicholas II to survey and photograph the vast expanses of Russia. He eventually fled to Paris following the Bolshevik seizure of power, where he finally died.

His process involved taking three photographs using three different lens filters, so as to capture exclussively Red, Green, and Blue data. The three slides were then shined onto a wall together to get the full color image, though today we can just put them together with any computer. The US Library of Congress bought what remained of Prokudin-Gorskii's work after he fled Russia (much of his work had been destroyed). I think it is a fascinating lens in the past that we far too often visualize in black and white. The vibrant colors captured are quite the contrast to the usual photos of a glum and gloomy Russia at the turn of the century:

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/images/p87_7238__01602_.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/images/p87-151.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/images/p87_4207__00507_.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/images/p87-7047.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/images/p87_7214__01578_.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/images/p87_4245__00547_.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/images/p87-6458.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/images/p87_7010__01477_.jpg


I still find it hard to imagine that these were taken 100 years ago.

more can be found at the library of congress (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/gorskii.html)

[ComradeOm]

I've seen these before but am continually amazed when I look over them again. These are a lot clearer than the practice of colouring B&W pictures and look a lot sharper.

Perhaps its the fancy outfits or the fact that everyone is posing so formally but it really does seem to be another world.

[chimx]

i agree. there is one photo i couldn't that i wanted to post of lumber workers. when you look at it in b&w, it just looks like a bunch of glum lumberjacks on the side of a mountain. when you seeit in color though, they are all wearing bright vibrant shirts of pink and green. honestly it makes me think differently about the time period, which is kind of embarrassing to admit that it would have such an effect.

[ComradeOm]

Well to follow up my last post, this actually was a completely different world. Its hard, if not impossible, to understand just how much Russia pre-1917 was unlike anything that you or I would know today. These pictures are a huge aid in helping me picture what life was like... but even then it mostly reminds me of how thing's differed.

For some reason its this pic (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/images/p87_2067__00279_.jpg) that I always recall when thinking of this collection. I'm not sure why but it just sticks in the mind.