Section 1 Men

Alexander Mikhailovich(1873-1918), younger brother of Sergei Mikhailovich (1863-1944), famous photographer, son of Mikhail Nikolaevich (1835?-1896) , chamberlain. Was born in the city of Murom. He lived in St. Petersburg, then in the village. Tamakul Kamyshlovsky district of the Perm province and was killed by the Bolsheviks in the city of Kamshlov in July 1918.

Alexey Mikhailovich(1875-1875), younger brother of Sergei Mikhailovich (1863-1944), a famous photographer, son of Mikhail Nikolaevich (1835? -1896), chamberlain. Born and died in Murom.

Alexey Neofitovich (Nefedovich)(1785-1827), son of Neophyte Ivanovich Prokudin. In one source he is referred to as "Prorkudin-Gorsky". Perhaps he took a double surname following the example of his uncle Mikhail Ivanovich (1744-1812 or 1813), a writer. According to other sources, it was still written as "Prokudin". Until 1818 he served in the Nezhinsky Dragoon Regiment, colonel. In recent years he lived on his estate Kruglye Pany in the Nizhny Novgorod province, 20 versts from the Sarov desert.

Boris Georgievich (Egorovich)(1859-1884), son of Georgy (Yegor) Sergeevich (1820 - after 1862), the Kovrov forester, author of hunting stories. He died in Perm from consumption.

Vadim Alexandrovich(1903-1958), son of Alexander Mikhailovich (1871 or 1872-1918). Was born in the city of Alapaevsk in the Urals. After the revolution, he was forced to abandon the second part of his surname. In the 1920s and 1930s he lived in the village. Tamakul.

Valery Mikhailovich(1860-?), Son of Mikhail Sergeevich (1833-after 1882), captain. His daughter Vera Valerievna Rogozhina (1903-1927) was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow in the same grave with Vladimir Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky.

Vladimir Mikhailovich(1878 or 1879-1960), son of Mikhail Georgievich (1851-1890). Mother - Evdokia Ivanovna Kempe (1852-1937). From 1899 on military service. Until 1917 - the owner of the Dubrovskoye estate in Staritsky district, a horse breeder. In 1918-1920. worked as an inspector of the Vindavskaya railway, then in the People's Commissariat of Agriculture (since 1920) and the People's Commissariat for Finance. In 1931, the Collegium of the OGPU in Samara was sentenced under Art. Art. 58-7 (sabotage) and 58-11 (counter-revolutionary organizational activity) to the deprivation of residence rights in 12 points. From 1935 he worked as an economist in Moscow (under the incomplete name "Prokudin"). Rehabilitated by the Kuibyshev Regional Court on April 19, 1957. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Vladimir Nikolayevich(? -before 1869), uncle of Sergei Mikhailovich (1863-1944), a famous photographer (brother of his father Mikhail Nikolaevich). Ensign, until 1859 he served in the Pskov internal garrison battalion.

Vladimir Sergeevich ( 1871-1872), son of Sergei Georgievich (Egorovich) (1841-?). Born and died in Vladimir.

Georgy Georgievich (Egor Egorovich)(1860-1906), son of Georgy (Yegor) Sergeevich (1820 - after 1862), the Kovrov forester, author of hunting stories. In the Reference book and the address-calendar of the city of Saratov for 1898 and 1906. listed as secretary of the Society of the Saratov House of Industriousness under the patronage of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. At the same time, he held the position of head of the administrative department and the fuel department of the Ryazan-Ural railway.
Children: daughters Sofia, Maria and Valentina.

Georgy (Egor) Sergeevich(1820 - after 1871), son of Sergei Mikhailovich (1789-1841). Kovrovsky forester (1850-1857), Pokrovsky district police chief (1857-1861), world mediator of the 3rd section of the Pokrovsky district (since 1861). Writer in the genre of "hunting literature". Children: sons Sergey, Mikhail, Boris, Georgy, Dmitry, daughters Varvara, Maria, Sophia, Olga.

Dmitry Georgievich (Egorovich)(1862-1931), son of Georgy (Yegor) Sergeevich (1820 - after 1862), the Kovrov forester, author of hunting stories. On August 1, 1899, he was elected to the chairman of the gathering of the Fominsk free fire brigade (the village of Fominki of the present Gorokhovetsky district of the Vladimir region). Participated in revolutionary activities (presumably since 1881). The chief of the fighting squad of the Northern Railway during the revolution of 1905. He left memories of those events. In 1925 he worked in the editorial office of the journal "Bulletin of the Moscow-Kursk Railway", lived at the station. Lyublino. He died in Moscow.

Dmitriy Sergeevich(1892-1963, Paris), the first son of Sergei Mikhailovich (1863-1944), a famous photographer. There were no children.

Egor Egorovich, see Georgy Georgievich (Egor Egorovich)

Lev Dmitrievich(? -1942?), Son of Dmitry Georgievich (1862-1931), a revolutionary railway worker. Before the war he lived and worked in Kineshma. He died of hunger during the Great Patriotic War (according to other sources, he disappeared without a trace). He most likely did not have a family.

Lev Mikhailovich(1772-1843), son of Mikhail Ivanovich (1744-1812?), Writer. Court councilor, landowner of the Shuisky and Pokrovsky districts of the Vladimir province. Buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery in Moscow (the grave could not be found).

Mikhail Georgievich (Egorovich)(1851-1890), son of Georgy (Yegor) Sergeevich (1820 - after 1862), the Kovrov forester, author of hunting stories. He studied at the Vladimir noble boarding school (1862-1870). He died of pneumonia and was buried in Alupka.

Mikhail Ivanovich(1744-1812 or 1813), the first bearer of the surname "Prokudin-Gorsky", who adopted it in 1792 (before that - Prakudin). A well-known writer, author of plays in his time. Children: sons Leo, Nikolai, Sergei and daughter Praskovya.

Mikhail Mikhailovich(1870-1870), younger brother of Sergei Mikhailovich (1863-1944), famous photographer, son of Mikhail Nikolaevich (1835?-1896) , chamberlain. Born and died in Murom (at the age of 5 months).

Mikhail Nikolaevich(1835? -1896), father of Sergei Mikhailovich (1863-1944), a famous photographer. From 1878 to 1895 - Chamberlain of the Court E.I.V., died in Irkutsk exile.

Mikhail Sergeevich(1833-after 1882), son of Sergei Mikhailovich (1789-1841). Landowner of the Pokrovsky district, staff captain. The author of the note "Pyotr Gorsky is one of the participants in the Battle of Kulikovo", published in the magazine "Russian Starina" for 1880:. Children: Sergei (1858-?), Valery (1860-?), Nikolay (1872-?).

Mikhail Sergeevich(1895-1961, Paris), the second son of Sergei Mikhailovich (1863-1944), a famous photographer. Children: Sergei (1932-2005) and Anna (1930-1996).

Mikhail (Michel) Sergeevich(b. 1955), son of Sergei Mikhailovich (1932-2005), great-grandson of the famous photographer. Lives in France.

Nikolay Mikhailovich(? -1849), son of Mikhail Ivanovich (1744-1812?), A writer, grandfather of Sergei Mikhailovich (1863-1944), a famous photographer. Titular councilor, Pokrovsky district leader of the nobility (1830-1832). Wife: Nadezhda Stepanovna. Children: Julia, Agrafena, Vladimir and Mikhail.

Nikolay Mikhailovich (1865-1883), younger brother of Sergei Mikhailovich (1863-1944), a famous photographer, a son Mikhail Nikolaevich (1835? -1896), chamberlain. Appears in the list of deceased students of the Alexander Lyceum.

Nikolay Mikhailovich(1872-?), Son of Mikhail Sergeevich (1833-after 1882), staff captain. Was introduced to the officers (1890s).

Nikolay Mikhailovich(1878-1905), presumably son of Mikhail Georgievich (1851-1890)... In military service since 1896. In 1904 he was sent to the city of Mukden at the disposal of the Chief of Staff of the Manchurian Army. In the Metric Book of the Regimental Church of the 20th East Siberian Regiment, there is a record of the death of Nikolai Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky, a lieutenant of the same regiment (he shot himself in August 1905).

Peter (Pierre) Sergeevich(b. 1957), son Sergei Mikhailovich(1932-2005), great-grandson of the famous photographer. Musician, lives in Paris.

Sergey Georgievich (Egorovich)(1841-?), Son of Georgy (Yegor) Sergeevich (1820 - after 1862), the Kovrov forester, author of hunting stories. He was at the Vladimir provincial drawing room with the rank of a private land surveyor and taxator (1867-1871). In the Address Book of St. Petersburg for 1894, he is mentioned as an employee of the Department of the State Treasury.

Sergey Mikhailovich(1789-1841), son of Mikhail Ivanovich (1744-1812?), A writer. From 1827 to 1840 he was the Pokrovsky zemstvo police chief. Co-owner of the Funikova Gora estate. A gravestone has been preserved at the cemetery of the Arkhangelsk churchyard of the Kirzhach district:
Children: Mikhail (1833-after 1882), Georgy (Egor) (1820-?), Agrafena, Elizabeth.

Sergey Mikhailovich(1858-?), Son of Mikhail Sergeevich (1833-after 1882). After military service he worked in the Ministry of Finance, as a tax inspector in Samarkand (1893-95). There is no mention of him after 1895. There were no children.

Sergey Mikhailovich(1863-1944), famous photographer, son of Mikhail Nikolaevich ( 1835 ? -1896), chamberlain. Children: sons Dmitry (1892-1957) and Mikhail (1895-1961), daughters Catherine (1893-1976) and Elena (1921-1994).

Sergey Mikhailovich(1932-2005), son of Mikhail Sergeevich (1895-1961, Paris), grandson of the famous photographer. Born and died in Paris. Children: Mikhail (Michel), Peter (Pierre), Ekaterina, Anna.

Yuri Alexandrovich(1907-1945), son of Alexander Mikhailovich (1871 or 1872-1918). Born in the village. Shutino of the Shadrinsky district. After the revolution, he was forced to abandon the second part of his surname. In the 1920s and 1930s he lived in the village. Tamakul. He died at the front of the Great Patriotic War in April 1945.

History of 10 photographs of the last chronicler of the Russian Empire Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky

Incredible brightness of colors, freshness of color and accuracy of details - what amazes when you look at the pictures taken by Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky.

It is hard to believe that these frames were taken by a Russian photographer at the very beginning of the twentieth century - the quality of these images and the accuracy with which they reproduced life surpass many pictures taken with modern equipment.

The task of the inventor, teacher, scientist, who studied chemistry under Dmitry Mendeleev, and painting - at the Imperial Academy of Arts, Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky saw the fixation of the life of Russia in true color. From 1903 to 1916, he compiled the "Collection of Landmarks of the Russian Empire" - a unique and largest collection of color photographs.

Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky is often called the father of color photography. But this is just one of the common myths about the outstanding scientist. The first color photograph in the world was taken in 1861 - two years before the birth of the Russian scientist. The merit of Prokudin-Gorsky is that he transferred this technology to Russia, improved the formulation of sensitizers and reduced the shooting process several times.

It is no coincidence that Prokudin-Gorsky is considered not only the pioneer of Russian color photography, but also the author of the term "homeland studies". The photographer intended to use his collection for enlightenment - to install a projector in every school and gymnasium in Russia in order to show the growing generation the wealth and beauty of his native country. The new subject was to be called "homeland studies". These lessons were never introduced in the schools of Tsarist Russia - the revolution of 1917 thwarted the idea. And the scientist himself emigrated in 1918, having learned about the execution of the royal family, and spent the last years of his life in France.

However, in 2001, modern residents of Russia received a lesson in homeland studies from a once famous compatriot, when the Library of Congress of the United States released his collection to the public.

August 30 marks 155 years since the birth of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky. With the help of the first biographer of the photographer and a leading specialist in his work Svetlana Garanina and the founder of the Museum S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky Vasily Dryuchin, we decided to tell about Prokudin-Gorsky and his activities in ten pictures.

Portrait of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, 1908

The only color portrait of Leo Tolstoy is one of the most valuable and famous photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky. The picture was taken on May 23, 1908, shortly before the 80th birthday of the writer. At the beginning of the month, Prokudin-Gorsky, by that time an authoritative scientist, widely known both in Russia and abroad, wrote a letter to Lev Tolstoy with a proposal to make a color photo of him. A travel permit has been obtained. In Yasnaya Polyana, Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky spent two or three days and took several photographs of Leo Tolstoy and his estate. However, most of the originals of this series have been lost. Separated negatives of Leo Tolstoy's portraits made by Prokudin-Gorsky have not been found. This portrait is reproduced from the author's lithographic print.

In Yasnaya Polyana, Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky spent two or three days and took several photographs of Leo Tolstoy and his estate. However, most of the originals of this series have been lost. Separated negatives of Leo Tolstoy's portraits made by Prokudin-Gorsky have not been found. This portrait is reproduced from the author's lithographic print.

"Due to the extremely disadvantageous position of the terrain for photographing, it was taken in the garden, in the shadow falling from the house, and the background was brightly lit by the sun. The photograph was taken at five and a half in the evening, immediately after Lev Nikolayevich's horse ride.<...>The portrait was reproduced in print without any corrections and embellishments in order to preserve the full value of the authenticity of the reproduction, "wrote Prokudin-Gorsky.

Svetlana Garanina, who was then a graduate student of the Moscow State Institute of Culture and now a leading specialist in the work of Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky, found this note by the Russian photographer-artist "To the jubilee portrait of Gr. Leo Tolstoy" in the Central State Historical Archives of Leningrad. In 1970, both the note and the photograph of Leo Tolstoy were published in the issue of the journal Science and Life.

Mowing lunch, 1909

Going on his expeditions to Russia, Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky wanted to record the life of the hinterland, including for the townspeople, so that they understand the beauty and diversity of their native country. Like many Russian intellectuals, the researcher believed that the peasants were the guardians of the Russian identity, way of life and the foundations of Russia.

This picture was taken presumably in June 1909 on the banks of the Sheksna River near Cherepovets, the area itself in 1941-1947 was flooded by the Rybinsk reservoir. The picture shows that Prokudin-Gorsky approached the process as an artist, conveying a picturesque image of peasants.

"According to some reports, a reproduction of this particular photograph hung in Prokudin-Gorsky's room until his death in Paris," said Vasily Dryuchin.

Peasant girls, 1909

The portrait of peasant girls in colorful sundresses holding berries in their hands is one of the brightest and most famous photographs from the ethnographic series of photographs of peasants on the banks of the Sheksna River. The photo was taken in the village of Topornya.

Restorer: Sergey Sverdlov

A fragment of this particular photograph was chosen for the design of the section of the website of the US Library of Congress, where materials from the Prokudin-Gorsky collection are located.

One of the secrets that Prokudin-Gorsky's photographs are literally filled with life was that he reduced the exposure time of the photographing process to 1-3 seconds. Before him, models had to sit still for about 15 seconds. Hence - the naturalness and realism of people and objects in the photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky.

Mugan. Settler's family, believed to be 1912

To capture the images of Russian peasants, Prokudin-Gorsky traveled not only to nearby provinces, but also to the distant outskirts of the empire. The photograph "Settler's family. Grafovka settlement" belongs to this series. It was made in the Russian settlement of Mugan, Baku province (the territory of modern Azerbaijan).

The tsarist government began to actively populate the South Caucasus from the middle of the 19th century. A significant part of the settlers were Russian peasants who professed dissident views - Molokans, Old Believers, Dukhobors, Subbotniks, etc. They were resettled to the Baku province by whole communities for apostasy. Mugan became one of the areas of Russian settlement. Prokudin-Gorsky recorded the historical process of this colonization. The picture shows the Russian immigrants-Molokans.

This photograph graced the cover of the first edition dedicated to Prokudin-Gorsky, Olshouse's album "Photos for the Tsar" (New York, 1980).

Unknown on the veranda in Lugano, 1908

The difficulty for researchers of Prokudin-Gorsky's work lies in the fact that the professor did not describe in detail the location and circumstances of his filming. He shared some stories in the magazine "Amateur Photographer", of which he became editor-in-chief in 1906. The most detailed description is the shooting of Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana. The circumstances and stories behind the creation of other photographs are collected bit by bit.

One of the most mysterious parts of Prokudin-Gorsky's collection is photographs of representatives of the nobility. Researchers of his work, despite years of searching, have not yet been able to pinpoint their names.

Restoration: Stanislav Pustovit

This photograph is taken on a hotel terrace near the train station in Lugano, Switzerland. According to Vasily Dryuchin, in Lugano Prokudin-Gorsky came to visit the former editor of the amateur photographer Adrian Lavrov. "There are various assumptions about who is shown in the picture, but none of them has been confirmed one hundred percent," said Vasily Dryuchin. According to one version, the picture may show the eldest daughter of Prokudin-Gorsky, Catherine, at that time she was 15 years old. However, Catherine's own son, the now deceased Dmitry Svechin, did not recognize his mother in the stranger.

A group of participants in the railway construction, 1916

The captured participants in the construction of the Murmansk railway also remain unknown. Despite many years of efforts, the researchers identified only one person in the picture - chief physician Sergei Serebrennikov (left in a gray suit).

Restorers: Konstantin and Vladimir Khodakovsky

During the First World War, in the summer of 1916, Prokudin-Gorsky made his last photo expedition to build a section of the Murmansk railway. The road began to be built in a hurry, it was assumed that it would change the course of the war.

The picture was taken at the pier in the village of Kem-Pristan (Kemsky District, Karelia). On it - a group of civil engineers who worked on the construction of the Murmansk railway. They are sitting on an unfinished deep-water pier, to which ships of the Allied countries with weapons and ammunition should soon begin to moor. Then no one could have imagined that in a few years, in the 1920s, steamers from this pier would take people to the Solovetsky special purpose camp.

Emir of Bukhara, 1911

Recording the life of the Russian Empire, Prokudin-Gorsky made several trips to Central Asia. "In January 1907, he and his assistants travel to Samarkand to photograph a solar eclipse," said Svetlana Garanina. earthquake, temples were killed. Monuments of Samarkand in color have been preserved in the photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky. Now in Central Asia his name is better known than ours. "

This picture was taken in 1911 during a trip to Bukhara, which in those years was a vassal state of the Russian Empire. On it is Seyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan, Emir of Bukhara (ascended the throne in 1910).

Restorer: WalterStudio, 2000-2001 (US Library of Congress)

For the history of photography, this photograph is valuable in that it demonstrates the highest level of Prokudin-Gorsky's technology in color reproduction.

The photographer used technology based on research by Englishman James Maxwell and Frenchman Louis Arthur Ducos du Horon, who patented the triple color separation method. In 1902, Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky studied at the photomechanical school in Germany under Professor Adolf Mite, who designed a camera for three-color photography and a projector for displaying color photographs.

The method consists in the fact that a colored object is filmed on a black-and-white glass plate from one point through three light filters - blue, green and red.

"One of these three glasses passes all the red, orange and yellow rays of the spectrum, delaying all the others; the other passes all the green rays and delays all the others; the third passes the blue, blue and violet rays, but does not let the rest", - explained Prokudin himself. Gorsky. The positives were then viewed through a three-lens projector. Each frame was projected through a light filter of the corresponding color. The three images were combined to reproduce the color of the object very accurately.

Along with triple color separation in Europe and in Russia, another method of color photography was actively developing - autochrome, which was patented by the Lumière brothers in 1904. Prokudin-Gorsky examined the photographic plates of the Lumiere brothers after the start of their mass production in 1907. As a result, the Russian photographer preferred the complex technology of sequential exposures with the help of Mita's camera. Autochrome was much inferior in color quality and gave a grainy picture. However, it is this technology that has become widespread due to the simpler process of photographing. After Prokudin-Gorsky in Russia, color photography using triple color separation did not develop.

View of the monastery of St. Nil Stolbensky, 1910

The photo shows the Epiphany Cathedral of the Nilova Hermitage on Lake Seliger. Prokudin-Gorsky chose the Svetlitsa Peninsula as a point for shooting.

Restoration: WalterStudio, 2000-2001 (US Library of Congress)

The Nilova Pustyn Monastery was founded on Stolbny Island at the end of the 16th century. It was widely known throughout Russia as one of the most visited holy places by pilgrims. The photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky capture the architecture of the monastery, which took shape by the middle of the 19th century.

The building was damaged during the years of Soviet power, and the interior decoration of the Epiphany Cathedral, which was captured by Prokudin-Gorsky, is almost completely lost.

This photograph became the emblem of the exhibition "The Empire That Was Russia" organized by the Library of Congress in 2001 - it was from this exhibition that the awakening of interest in the legacy of the Russian photographer began.

Church of the Nativity of Christ in Krokhin, 1909

A photograph of the Church of the Nativity of Christ in Krokhin (Belozersky district of the Vologda region) Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky took in 1909. In the same year, an important event took place in the life of Prokudin-Gorsky and in the development of his business - the scientist received an offer to present his photographs to Tsar Nicholas II.

Restorer: Yuri Katanov

The fatal show for the collection of Prokudin-Gorsky took place on May 3 in Tsarskoe Selo. "Exactly at half past eight, the Arab on duty (The manuscript, most likely, contains a typo. This means the arap - note TASS) announced:" Their Imperial Majesties "and the Sovereign, the Empress with her elder daughters and his entourage entered the hall. paintings, when I heard the Emperor's approving whisper, I was already confident of success, since the program was selected by me in an increasing order of effectiveness "(Spelling and punctuation originals preserved - approx. TASS), - recalled Prokudin-Gorsky in the introduction to his memoirs , dated 1932 (spelling and punctuation of the author preserved). After that, the photographer received official support for documenting the Russian Empire. It consisted in the following: Prokudin-Gorsky was provided with a specially equipped railway carriage and a small steamer, and the tsarist office issued documents that gave him permission to shoot all the territories of the empire. All other expenses for the equipment and maintenance of the expedition, Prokudin-Gorsky still paid from his own funds, realizing the importance of his work for his contemporaries and for future generations.

Now the village of Krokhin does not exist, it was flooded in 1961 when the Sheksninsky reservoir was filled. Ruins of white walls, melting every year, protrude from the water. This is what is left of the Church of the Nativity of Christ.

Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky and his assistant Nikolai Selivanov during shooting, presumably 1909

Until recently, it was believed that there were no photographs showing Prokudin-Gorsky himself in the process of filming. However, in 2017, the granddaughter of his assistant Nikolai Selivanov, Irina Epshtein, handed over to the Prokudin-Gorsky Museum materials from the family archive - documents and photographs, which captured the master with his entourage.

It is assumed that this picture was taken on the banks of the Sheksna River. Most likely, it captures the process of taking the photo "Lunch at the Mowing". Next to Sergei Mikhailovich is a 16-year-old teenager in a cap. This is the main assistant of the master Nikolay Selivanov (1892-1957). In 1908, together with Prokudin-Gorsky's son Dmitry, he accompanied the photographer to Yasnaya Polyana to shoot Leo Tolstoy. Then he participated in many expeditions of Prokudin-Gorsky and until the end of his life worked at the State Optical Institute in Leningrad. This photograph was first presented at the exhibition "Unknown Prokudin-Gorsky" in 2017 at the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia.

The irony of the time is that a person who has been striving to grasp and fix it all his life was forgotten for many years in his homeland. The relatives of Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky, who were in exile, were forced to sell the collection to the Library of Congress in 1948 due to the difficult situation of Russian emigrants in Paris and the lack of conditions necessary to preserve the collection. Only in the early 2000s in Russia the name of Prokudin-Gorsky began to gain popularity again.

However, it is too early to say that his legacy is fully appreciated. On the territory of Russia, there is not a single memorial plaque dedicated to Prokudin-Gorsky - neither in St. Petersburg, where the researcher's apartment and printing house were located, nor in Kirzhach, near which he was born. His memory is supported by enthusiasts. In 2016, on the initiative of Vasily Dryuchin, a computer science teacher and researcher of photography, the Prokudin-Gorsky Museum was opened at the Romanovskaya School, a state secondary school in Moscow.

1909, Russua. Three generations. A.P. Kalganov with son and granddaughter. The last two work in the shops of the Zlatoust plant.

I recently made a selection of photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky for my English-language blog. Let it hang here and there, once you've done the job. The only thing I don’t have the strength to do is to rewrite the signatures in Russian. Sorry, but the signatures will be in English. But in Russian I will add a small accompanying text.

Everyone seems to have heard about Prokudin-Gorsky, especially after Parfyonov's film "The Color of the Nation" (it was curious, of course, to observe the excitement around what has been known for a long time). And I have not met a good selection of photographs of one of the first in the world, by the way, color photographers. It is clear that Sergei Mikhailovich was primarily a chemist. However, he devoted so many years to his beloved work that over time he began to get good pictures, and not just a fixation of reality.

If we talk about history, then formally Prokudin-Gorsky was not the first photographer to shoot in color. At least before him were James Clark Maxwell, Gabriel Lipman, Frederic Ives, Hermann Vogel, Louis Ducos du Oron, Charles Cros, John Jouley, and in parallel with him Rudolph Fischer, George Eastman, Leopold Manne, Leopold Godowsky, the Lumiere brothers and Adolph Mite, whom Sergei Mikhailovich considered to be his teacher and from whom he borrowed the design of the chamber he later improved upon.

However, none of these people left a photographic heritage, almost all of them were primarily scientists, chemists, physicists and discoverers. They created the theory of color separation, developed and improved technology, discovered sensibilizers, light-sensitive plates and chemicals. But none of them took pictures.

Prokudin-Gorsky not only improved the developments of his predecessors from a technological point of view (he has many chemical inventions on his account), but also made more than 4,000 photographs in different parts of the world. Unfortunately, thanks to the events of 1917, slightly less than 2,000 plates have survived to our time, and they have been preserved solely due to the fact that they were taken out of Russia and are currently in the US Library of Congress.

When the photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky are shown, most often they are talking about photographs of Russia. Not everyone knows that, in addition to this, Sergei Mikhailovich filmed in Ukraine, in Belarus, in the territories of modern Georgia and Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Latvia, Finland, France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Austria. But most of the photographs that have come down to us were indeed taken within the territory of what was then Russia.

Usually, a selection of photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky consists of specific pictures and attracts the attention of history buffs rather than photographs. There are special sites where people study their legacy, find places where photographs were taken, take a picture from the same angle, and create a library of comparisons “100 years later”. All this is probably very curious, but personally I have never been interested. More precisely, interest in specific postcards fades away rather quickly, it is worth looking at a couple of dozen. But I can look at photographs of people for a very long time, and return to them many times.

Despite the fact that Prokudin-Gorsky does not have so many photographs with people, they are. In this collection of 64 photos, I decided to collect the best of them, plus I added literally a couple of landscapes to complement the overall picture. All photos are in good enough quality (1800 px on the long side). I corrected some of them in color, but mostly I was satisfied with reproductions from the site www.prokudin-gorsky.org.

2.

1907, Uzbekistan. Chained prisoners, Bukhara

3.

1911, Uzbekistan. Emir of Bukhara. Bukhara

4.

1911, Russia. Dagestani types, village of Arakani

5.

1907, Uzbekistan. Prison of the town of Bukhara.

6.

1907, Uzbekistan, Bakery in the town of Bukhara

7.

1916, Russia. On the handcar outside Petrozavodsk on the Murmansk railway

8.

1910, Russia. Work at the Bakalskii mine, Tiazhelyi iron mine. Irkuskan hill near Bakal

9.

1907, Kyrgyzstan. At the Saliuktin mines.

10.

1909, Russia. Peasant girls, Topornya village

11.

1909, Russia. Dagestan, village of Arakani, Lezgian

12.

1912, Georgia. Georgian women, in the park of Borzhom

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1912, Georgia, Cotton. In sukhum botanical garden

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1912, Azerbaijan. Mugan. Settler "s family. Settlement of Grafovka, Grafskii

15.

1911, Uzbekistan. Sart types. Samarkand

16.

1911, Uzbekistan. Nazar Magomet. Golodnaia Steppe

17.

1911, Uzbekistan, Nomadic Kirghiz. Golodnaia Steppe

18.

1910, Russia. Spinning yarn. In the village of Izvedovo

19.

1911, Russia. His Highness Khan of Khiva in Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg

20.

1912, Russia. Laying concrete for the dam "s sluice. Near the village of Beloomut

21.

1911, Uzbekistan. Doctors. Samarkand

22.

1912, Turkey. Mullah with his female students near the Artomelinskaia mosque in Artvin

23.

1910, Russia. Bashkir switchman. Near Ust-Katav station

24.

1912, Turkey. Armenian woman in holiday attire, Artvin

25.

1909, Russia. Ostrechiny. Study. Svir river

26.

1912, Georgia. Mullahs in mosque. Aziziia. Batum

27.

1912, Azerbaijan, Mugan Steppe. Georgian woman in a folk costume

28.

29.

1916, Russia. Baling machine for hay. Near Kondopoga village

30.

1916, Russia. Austrian prisoners of war near a barrack, near Kondopoga village

31.

1916, Russia. Group. Near the lake of Vygozero

32.

1911, Uzbekistan. Bukhara bureaucrat. At the palace In the Emir "s Shir-Budun garden near Bukhara

33.

1911, Uzbekistan, Shepherd. Samarkand

34.

1911, Uzbekistan. Sentry at the palace, and old cannons. In Registan square. Bukhara

35.

1911, Uzbekistan. At work on the upper reaches of the Syr-Darya. Golodnaia Steppe

36.

1912, Russia. Night camp by a rock on the bank of the Chusovaia

37.

1911, Uzbekistan. Camel caravan carrying thorns for fodder. Golodnaia Steppe

38.

1904, Ukraine. In Little Russia. Near the town of Putivl in Kursk Province

39.

Study with boy. Western Europe

40.

1912, Belorussia. Harvested field. Vitebsk Province

41.

1909, Russia. Haying at the Leushinskii Monastery

42.

1911, Uzbekistan. Group of Jewish children with a teacher. Samarkand

43.

1908, Switzerland. At veranda in Lugano

44.

1912, Georgia. Packaging department. Borzhom

45.

1911, Uzbekistan. On the Registan. Samarkand

46.

1911, Turkmenistan. Supplying cotton to cotton-processing manufacture in the Murgab Estate. Bairam-Ali

47.

1911, Uzbekistan. Prime Minister of Bukhara (Kush-Beggi)

48.

1907, Uzbekistan. Students. Samarkand

49.

1911, Uzbekistan. Carpenter. Samarkand

50.

1911, Uzbekistan. Trader in the Registan. Samarkand

51.

1909, Russia. Northwest part of the town of Zlatoust

52.

1916, Russia. Group of railroad construction participants. On the pier in Kem-Pristan

53.

1911, Uzbekistan. Kebab restaurant. Samarkand

54.

1911, Uzbekistan. In the court of Shir-Dor mosque. Samarkand

55.

1909, Russia. Pinkhus Karlinskii. Eighty-four years old. Sixty-six years of service. Supervisor of Chernigov floodgate

56.

1911, Turkmenistan. Tekin with his family. Bairam-Ali area

57.

1911, Turkmenistan. Supplying cotton to cotton-processing manufacture. Bairam-Ali area, Murgab Estate

58.

1911, Uzbekistan. Water-carrier. Samarkand

59.

1911, Uzbekistan. Policeman in Samarkand

60.

1911, Turkmenistan. Workers packing oil cake. Bairam-Ali

61.

1911, Turkmenistan. Dzhigit Ibragim. Bairam-Ali area

62.

1907, Kyrgyzstan. Observing a solar eclipse on January 1, 1907, near the Cherniaevo Station in the Tian-Shan mountains above the Saliukta mines

63.

1907, Uzbekistan. Elderly Sart man (Babaika), Samarkand

64.

1912, Georgia, On the Skuritskhali River. Study. Orto-Batum village. Self-portrait

see also

This list of the most famous photographs of S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky was compiled by me almost 4 years ago, but since then the number of blog readers has increased by about 10 times, so it makes sense to repeat the post. However, I slightly updated the material (initially, eight images were considered).

The first place, of course, belongs to the portrait of Leo Tolstoy, which in 1908 was sold in large editions in the form of postcards, magazine inserts and wall posters:

And in Soviet times, this portrait was published in even larger circulations (publications in books and magazines). In 1978 he appeared on the cover of the main weekly of the USSR, the Ogonyok magazine, with a circulation of more than 2 million copies! This record will probably never be broken.

Let's give the second place to the so-called "self-portrait", which adorns the article about Prokudin-Gorsky in Wikipedia.

The photo was pasted into the album with the caption "Along the Karolitskhali River".
Actually, there are two mistakes here. Firstly, the technology of three-color shooting did not allow making any "self-portraits" at that time, which means that one of the assistants (possibly one of the sons) was shooting.
Secondly, the widely spread title of the picture, as it became known recently, is erroneous, just one of Sergei Mikhailovich's assistants confused the signature when pasted into the album. Indeed, is it possible to sit "along the river"? But the point, of course, is not this, but the fact that Prokudin-Gorsky is sitting on the bank of another river - Skuritskhali (Karolitskhali tributary). To understand this, it took several weeks of research work, in which, independently of each other, two local residents, residents of Batumi, participated. The original author's title of the picture is in the album - "On the Skuritskhali River. Study". Some kind of "left" picture with a waterfall was glued to it.

Third place - the famous portrait of the Emir of Bukhara, 1911:

The portrait is absolutely incomparable in color; no exhibition can do without it.
Even avatars based on the following appeared:

Fourth place - "Peasant girls". [d. Topornya], which differs, like the previous one, by the incomparable brightness of colors.
This photo fell in love with two directors at once: Leonid Parfyonov, who dedicated a separate plot to him in the film "The Color of the Nation" and a Dutch one named Ben van Leeshout, who made from it the original poster for the film "Inventory of the Motherland":

In the original:

Fifth place - a photo with Prokudin-Gorsky on a railcar near Petrozavodsk, 1916:


There were craftsmen who animated this image! The railcar runs smoothly along the rails and if you add a suitable soundtrack, you will get an excellent clip :-)
By the way, a couple of such animations were included in the last documentary about Prokudin-Gorsky - Russia in Color (director: Vladimir Meletin, 2010).

Sixth place - "View of the monastery from the Svetlitsa". [Monastery of St. Nile Stolbensky, Lake Seliger]. 1910:

This photograph became the emblem of the American exhibition "Empire That Was Russia" in 2001, which sparked the awakening of mass interest in the legacy of the pioneer of color photography.
The view is truly mesmerizing with its splendor.

Seventh place - a snapshot of a family of Russian settlers in the Grafovka village of the Mugan steppe:

The picture is widely known for the reason that it adorns the cover of the very first album of Prokudin-Gorsky's photographs, ed. Robert Allshouse, published in the USA in 1980 (Allshouse, Robert H. (ed.). Photographs for the Tsar: The Pioneering Color Photography of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II. - Doubleday, 1980).

Eighth place - a photo with participants in the construction of the Murmansk railway. on the pier in Kem-port. It became widely known thanks to its placement on the dust jacket of Veinikov's first (and so far only) album "The Russian Empire in Color":

Ninth place - another photograph of Prokudin-Gorsky, this time, on the famous Karelian waterfall Kivach, sung by Gavrila Derzhavin:

The picture was taken out on the cover of the album under the editorship of. S. Garanina, published in 2006.

It is rather difficult to get the 10th place, because there are many worthy contenders.
Perhaps the masterpiece Lunch at the Mow?

According to some reports, a reproduction of this particular photograph hung in Prokudin-Gorsoky's room until his death.

It is interesting to know the opinion of readers, what pictures of Prokudin-Gorsky do they consider famous?

The work of the most famous Russian photographer, inventor, teacher Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky has about two thousand glass color-separated negatives, capturing the centuries-old culture of the Russian Empire on the eve of tremendous upheavals.

During the first 15 years of the 20th century, he implemented a grandiose project - color photography of the Russian Empire.

By 1906, Prokudin-Gorsky published several articles on the principles of color photography. By that time, he had perfected the new method so much that it guaranteed the same color sensitivity of the entire spectrum that he could create color frames suitable for projection.

It was Prokudin-Gorsky who, at the same time, developed a new method of transferring a color image: he shot objects three times - through 3 filters - red, green and blue. The result is 3 black and white positive plates.

To reproduce the resulting images, he used a three-section overhead projector with blue, red and green light. All 3 pictures were simultaneously projected onto the screen, and as a result, you could see a full color photo.

In 1909, Prokudin-Gorsky was already a well-known master and editor of the amateur photographer magazine. At this time, he finally manages to realize his dream of creating a photographic chronicle of the entire Russian empire.

After listening to the advice of Grand Duke Mikhail, Prokudin-Gorsky tells about his plans to Nicholas II and, of course, hears words of support. For several years, specifically for travel in order to photographically document the life of the empire, the government allocated a railway carriage to Prokudin-Gorsky, equipped with everything necessary.

During his work on his grandiose project, Prokudin-Gorsky shot several thousand plates. During this period, the technology for displaying a color image on the screen has been worked out almost perfectly. Thus, a unique gallery of beautiful photographs was created.

After the death of Nicholas II, Prokudin-Gorsky, together with his collection - glass plates in 20 boxes - managed to travel first to Scandinavia, then to Paris. He lived in Nice in the 1920s. Sergei Mikhailovich was very glad that his works helped the young Russian generation abroad to understand what their homeland looks like.

The collection of photographic plates by Prokudin-Gorsky had to endure the repeated relocations of the Prokudin-Gorsky family and the German occupation of Paris.

At the end of the 40s, the question was raised of publishing the first "History of Russian Art" under the general editorship of Igor Grabar, and supplying it with color illustrations.

In 1948, Marshall, a representative of the Rockefeller Foundation, purchased about 1,600 photographic plates from the Prokudins-Gorskys for a sum of $ 5,000. Thus, the plates ended up in the library of the US Congress.

Already in our time, the idea arose of how to scan and combine 3-plate photographs of Prokudin - Gorsky on a computer. This is how we all managed to bring the unique archive back to life.