EARLY-1900s RUSSIAN COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY
Posted by Collective
Between 1909 and 1915, Russian photographer/chemist Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii traveled across his homeland, using the relatively new technology of color photography to document what he saw. Outfitting a private train car with his own dark room equipment, Prokudin-Gorskii captured landscapes, buildings, and people in a series of breathtaking images. Given the rarity of vibrant color photography from this era, Prokudin-Gorskii’s work is all the more striking: Without sepia tones’ time-distancing effects, the characters in these images feel right there, full of stories of a bygone era and a diverse, colorful culture on the brink of revolution.
Posted by: Todd Goldstein // Twitter: @armsongs
9 Comments Leave A Comment
Jon says:
January 24, 2013 at 10:08 amThese aren’t just good they are incredible. The fact that he was able to get that color quality, with the images being that clear and sharp too. Incredible.
Terry says:
January 24, 2013 at 10:53 amThese are gorgeous. So authentic; and so hard to replicate the effect (as hard as we seem to try these days).
Ced says:
January 24, 2013 at 2:33 pmThis quite simply boggles my mind. I love it when that happens. Thanks!
Owen says:
January 24, 2013 at 3:50 pmThat bro in the blue coat holding sword kinda looks like Action Bronson.
Awesome post man.
Noran says:
January 25, 2013 at 12:15 amWhat would be the ‘the relatively new technology of color photography’? Is it Mamiya RZ?
So crispy clear.
Adam says:
January 25, 2013 at 5:11 amThe complete collection, hi-res! http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?sp=1&co=prok&st=grid
SergeyM says:
February 7, 2013 at 9:05 pmPhoto #10 is from my town – Kostroma. The church has not changed. As well as the historical center.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Church_of_the_Resurrection_%28Kostroma%29_01.jpg?uselang=ru
nolan says:
February 26, 2013 at 8:28 pmreminds me of albert kahn’s expeditions
Troy Augustine mugshot says:
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