In 1909, Russian chemist and photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) set out on a journey to capture all of Russia in colour on behalf of Czar Nicholas II.
One of the early pioneers of colour photography, he systematically documented the vast empire with the unprecedented technique he had developed - a method in which he used colour-sensitive glass plates - decades before the widespread availability of colour film. His images were not only meant to document the diverse citizens, ethnicities, settlements, folklore, and landscapes of a vast empire, but to create nothing less than a common identity for its populace.
After what would become a six-year photographic expedition, Prokudin-Gorskii fled Russia in 1918 in the aftermath of the October Revolution. After travelling through Norway and England, he settled in Paris, where he died in 1944. The United States Library of Congress purchased his work in 1948.
Over 250 of these early colour photographs, which have recently been laboriously restored by the Library of Congress, were showcased in the exhibition ‘Nostalgia’, and shown in Europe for the first time during the 5th European Month of Photography with an accompanying catalogue.
The book was promptly awarded the golden German Photobook Prize in the history of photography category. This award was also presented to 5 other books selected from 173 nominated titles.
A selection of images from the Nostalgia book are available as fine art prints from Gestalten.
Nostalgia
The Russian Empire of Czar Nicholas II
The Russia of Czar Nicholas II in laboriously restored historical color photographs by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii
30 x 27 cm
320 pages, full colour, linen hardcover, landscape format
978-3-89955-439-7
Catalogue Price: €58.00 / $88.00 / £55.00