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This collection of photographs is by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) offer a vivid portrait of a lost world - the Russian Empire on the eve of World War I and the coming revolution. His subjects ranged from the medieval churches and monasteries of old Russia, to the railroads and factories of an emerging industrial power, to the daily life and work of Russia's diverse population. In the early 1900s Prokudin-Gorskii formulated an ambitious plan for a photographic survey of the Russian Empire that won the support of Tsar Nicholas II. Between 1909 and 1912, and again in 1915, he completed surveys of eleven regions, traveling in a specially equipped railroad car provided by the Ministry of Transportation.
So much for the basic historical facts. Technically what makes this collection so amazing is the introduction of color combined with the exceptionally high quality of the original photography. The images were captured on glass negatives (3 exposures were taken in rapid succession in which blue, red and green filters were applied). These were then projected onto a screen via a ‘magic lantern’ outfitted with 3 lenses for each of the colors that aggregated the 3 images into one – the equivalent of a modern day slide show. The contemporary photo prints were created by the Library of Congress and included some corrections, particularly to adjust for over and under exposures on the originals. The result is images that appear as fresh and alive as if they were snapshots taken just yesterday.
So much for the technical facts. Now we come to the heart of the matter and what really makes these pictures so fascinating. Old black and white photographs automatically assume a patina of age due to the medium which traps them in their own time like bugs in amber. But color adds a particular dimension that especially helps to locate and define space while also eliciting a subtle timeless reality not possible with black and white. Subject matter dates any image but the introduction of color offers a counterpoint for this. I’ve seen this when comparing say, impressionist paintings to photographs from the same period. The paintings seem more real, more accessible then black and white photos.
So until now my experience has only been limited to paintings. But in these pictures from so long ago, the presence of color has lifted them from the ages. In one sense they are rendered surreal by the effect because the color is so vivid that the dated subject matter seems like something from a movie set. This is countered though by the more commonplace subjects such as a group of children sitting on a sunny hillside (look to the lower left of this picture to see the photographer’s trick revealed where there are 3 images of a child’s head when they moved between the exposures). Somehow, because such images are so ordinary they become all the more profound. Intellectually you know that the children pictured are all very likely dead by now. But emotionally, due to the color and crispness of the picture, such a reality seems very odd; even improbable.
So what emerges is this: Color has an enormous ability to empower imagery with the added capacity to affect the perception of reality. I have often wondered why abstract paintings done several decades ago have the same quality of immediacy and accessibility I see in these pictures - as though the paint may have been still wet only last week. These photographs provide additional insight, from another P.O.V., as to why it is so.
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