Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky was a Russian chemist and photographer famous for his pioneering work in color photography in the early twentieth century.
In 1905 Gorsky set himself to the task of photographically documenting the Russian Empire with the primary aim of educating Russian schoolchildren on the diverse history and culture of the realm. After his famous color photograph of renowned author Leo Tolstoy in 1908, Gorsky received an invitation to present his work to Tsar Nicholas II and his family. So impressed was the Tsar that he commissioned Gorsky’s plan and provided him with funding and a specially-outfitted dark room rail car for his work.
From 1909 to 1915 Gorsky tirelessly traversed the Russian empire capturing thousands of shots of virtually every walk of Russian life. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the completion of his historic mission, we are publishing 100 of his best shots, giving a vivid glimpse into Tsarist Russia on the eve of the Communist Revolution.
‘War and Peace’ author Leo Tolstoy – 1908
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84-year-old Pinkhus Karlinsky was the supervisor of the Chernigov floodgate over the course of 66 years – 1909
Dagestani couple – between 1909-1915
Assumption Cathedral in the Dalmatov Monastery – 1912
Assumption Cathedral in Tobolsk, rampart and part of fence – 1912
Austrian prisoners of war at a barracks near Kiappeselga – 1915
Young boy standing next to a gatepost – 1910
Bukharan bureaucrat – between 1909-1915
Cathedral in Shadrinsk – 1912
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God at the Ipatevsky Monastery – 1910
Cathedral of the Transfigured Savior and Church of the Entry to Jerusalem in Torzhok – 1910
Foreman of the Chakva tea factory, Lau Dzhen Dzhau – between 1909-1915
Chapel from the time of Peter the Great near the Kivach Waterfall near the river Suna – 1915
Chapel where the city of Belozersk was founded in ancient times – 1909
Children sitting on a hill near a church and belltower in the countryside near White Lake in northern Russia – 1909
Church of the Resurrection of the Blood – between 1909-1915
Church of the Holy Mother of God in Tobolsk – 1912
Church of the Resurrection in the Grove in Kostroma – 1910
View of Dalmatov from the monastery belltower – 1912
Joining of the Irtysh and Tobol rivers – 1912
Courtyard of the Church of the Resurrection – between 1909-1915
Dagestani couple – between 1909-1915
Dmitrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir – 1911
Drying nets on Lake Seliger – 1910
Entrance to the Church of the Resurrection in Kostroma – 1910
Exit from the yard of the Church of St. George at the Riurik fortress Staraya Lagoda – 1909
Carpet merchant in Samarqand – between 1909-1915
Family working iron mines in the Bakaly Hills with shovels and horse-drawn carts – between 1909-1915
Farmers taking a rest from haying – 1909
Russian forest – 1910
Column fresco in the Church of St. John Chrystosom in Yaroslavl – 1911
Overview of Artvin from the small town of Svet – between 1909-1915
View of Liksansky Palace from the Kura River – between 1909-1915
View of Nikolaevsky Cathedral from the southwest – 1911
View of Shakh-i-Zendi Mosque in Samarkand – between 1909-1915
Georgian woman standing next to a tree – between 1909-1915
Girl with berries – 1909
Sergei Gorsky at the Karolitskhali River – 1912
Gospel belonging to the nun Varsanofiya, governess of the Tsarevna, in Trinity Monastery in Alexandrov – 1911
Group of Greek tea harvesters in Chavka – between 1909-1915
Hay storage at the Viazovaya Station – 1910
Iconostasis at a church in Borodino – 1911
Iconostasis at the Winter Church of the Fedorov Mother of God in Yaroslavl – 1911
Treasures in the vestry of the Ipatevsky Monastery in Kostroma – 1911
Borodino Museum – 1911
Jewish children with their teacher in Samarqand – between 1909-1915
Production shop for scabbards at the Zlatoust arms plant – 1910
Boat Yard in Kareshka – 1909
Large gathering of men in Central Asia, possibly for a game of Bayga – between 1909-1915
Workers laying concrete for a dam over the Oka River – 1912
Locomotive and coal car at a railroad yard – between 1909-1915
Horseman on the Golodnaya Steppe – between 1909-1915
Man sitting among bamboo trees – between 1909-1915
Man sitting on a log next to a hut for woodcutters – 1912
Melon vendor in Samarqand – between 1909-1915
Mills in Tobolsk Province – 1912
The last Emir of Bukhara, Mohammad Alim Khan – 1911
Artistic casting at Kasli Iron Works – between 1909-1915
Monks planting potatoes at Gethsemane Monastery – 1910
Mother of God-Odigitria in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Smolensk – 1912
Mullahs at a mosque in Aziziya Batum – between 1909-1915
Sergei Gorsky near the Kivach Waterfall on the Suna River – 1915
Hotel in Gagra with chauffeur in front – between 1909-1915
Night camp by a rock on the banks of the Chusovaya – 1912
Kyrgyz family on the steppe – between 1909-1915
Noviy Afon Monastery Ponds – between 1909-1915
An old man in Samarqand holding a brace of birds – between 1909-1915
Ordezh River near Siverskaya Station in Petersburg Province – between 1909-1915
Handcar outside Petrozavodsk on the Murmansk Railway – between 1909-1915
Skuritskhali River – between 1909-1915
Guests standing near Catherine’s Spring at a spa at Borzhom – between 1909-1915
Rafts on Peter the Great Canal in Shlisselburg – 1909
Right bank of the Irtysh River at Tobolsk – 1912
Hauberk and helmet of St. Dalmat – 1912
Sart fields in Samarqand – between 1909-1915
Sergei Gorsky with two Cossaks in Murman – 1915
Settler’s family in village of Grafovka – between 1909-1915
Steam engine ‘Kompaund’ with Schmidt super heater – 1915
Stork in a nest in Bukhara – between 1909-1915
Tile stove in the prince’s chamber in Rosta Veliky – 1911
Tow rope bridge in the village of Lava – 1909
Trinity Cathedral in the city of Lalaturovsk – 1912
Trinity monastery in the city of Tumen – 1912
Tsar Aleksei Mikhaelovich’s gospel and Tsar Mikhael Feodorovich’s sacremental vessels in Trinity Monastery in Alexandrov – 1911
Tsarist gifts to the Goritsky Monastery – 1909
Two men and a woman standing outside the Zlatoust arms plant – 1910
Two men and two boys in Samarqand – between 1909-1915
Two men with a boat in Ostrechiny – 1909
Shir-Dar madrasa in Samarqand – between 1909-1915
Solovetsky Monastery – 1915
View of Tbilisi from St. David Church – between 1909-1915
View of Dalmatov Monastery from the Iset River – 1912
View of Tobolsk from Assumption Cathedral – 1912
Village of Kolchedan – 1912
Weighing station at the Chakva tea factory – between 1909-1915
Woman in Purdah standing next to a wooden door – between 1909-1915
Woman spinning yarn in the village of Izvedod – 1910
Church of the Transfiguration of Our Lord in the village of Pidma – 1909
Young woman in Malorossi (Ukraine) – between -1909-1915
Young women offer berries to visitors to their izbas – traditional wooden houses along the Sheksna River near Kirillov – 1909