100 year old Russian colour pictures.

Thanks for the link. I really enjoyed the photos.

The photos are almost surreal. They almost look like people from today dressed up in historical garbs. I think of early 1900's Russia, and the various circumstances (that began before the 1900's) there that eventually led to the events in 1917. Gotta wonder how these folks were affected by it, and if they even saw it coming.
 
I'm so accustomed to seeing photographs of that time in black and white, it kind of startled me to see colour. With colour these people seem to be transported from the past into the present. Quite wonderful.
 
Thanks Bill. Incredible images and I see that Tbilisi hasn't changed that much. I think I now have to make it my next challenge to visit the St David Church and take the same picture and post it here for comparison.
 
that would be fab olli!

i remember seeing these somewhere before and having that jaw-dropping feeling ...they really are extraordinary in lots of different ways ... but I had forgotten all about them.

Mind you, I reckon Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii was working with an early version of the Foveon ...
 
Yes, Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky did a very fine job with those photos.

They are indeed very surreal. Having lived in various parts of the former Russian Empire for all my life, I can say that nothing changed... and yet everything DID change at the same time. For example, the picture number 4 could be taken yesterday. Sometimes it's hard to guess what century it is, but the country is immediately identifiable.
 
Just finally finished reading Freeman's latest book and discovered near the end of the book in the section on colour photography a reproduction from one of this series, specifically number 28, The Emir of Bukhara.
 
I saw those photos when they were first published in the Globe. As much as I love black and white photography, there is so much more information in those color images, isn't there? All of a sudden, one can imagine so much more about what the world looked like 100 years ago. What a treat.
 
thanks olli - i found that review of yours just as you posted this!
i got a little waterstone's voucher from my team when i left work recently, and it'll pay for this nicely.
 
Fantastic, it's been said before but those are just jaw dropping. The colour is just so believable, indeed I would guess pretty spot on with the Emir of Bukhara taking first spot for the rendition of his fabulous cloak, the greens in the landscapes seem just right as well.

Barrie
 
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