January 28, 2005

The Prokudin-Gorskii exhibit at the Library of Congress web site shows a fascinating variety of color photographs of WWI-era Russia. Prokudin-Gorskii, the Tsar's photographer, took the photos on three glass plates to achieve the color effect, and the Library of Congress shows how the photos were digitally rendered from the glass plates.

This was particularly interesting to me because I recently saw an exhibit of the personal effects of the last Tsar's family at the Newark Museum (no exhibit link, alas, because it's gone). It had a number of albums of photos taken by the Tsar's family, for whom photography was apparently a big hobby.

posted by immlass 19 years ago
  • Fascinating. Great post, immlass!
  • Oh my god, I can't believe how lifelike those photos are. These are better than a lot of pics I have seen from 1960-1970. This is the closest I've ever felt to stepping in a time machine. (I'd LOVE to hear about any equivalent websites for old-time United States photography) ) ) ) )
  • I love this stuff. Cheers
  • Fascinating to see the results and how it's done. Thanks, imlass!
  • Well done Monkey! Have a White Russian with a banana on the side.
  • Wasn't this here before?
  • Absolutely stunning photographs!! The blue robe on the Emir of Bukhara is to die for. Amazing color.
  • I know! I did actually think that I'd found a FPP with that Newsweek article too (silly me :P), but obviously I'd missed this when it was first posted. It deserves to be bumped - the quality they've managed to extract is phenomenal.