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"Using emerging technological advances in color photography, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii [there are multiple spellings of his name] (1863-1944) made numerous photographic trips to systematically document the Russian Empire. He conducted most of his visual surveys between 1909 and 1915, although some of his work dates as early as 1905. The Empire at this time stretched 7,000 miles from west to east and 3,000 miles from north to south and comprised one-sixth of the earth's land mass. It was the largest empire in history and spanned what today are eleven different times zones."
These photos are stunningly beautiful, haunting, unique, historically interesting, everything you could want really
And there are so many of them! A deep rabbit-hole for sure
Feb 1, 2025
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Koudelka was a photographer who documented Europe from the 60s onwards, recording the lives of travelling people, Soviet invasions, struggles with poverty, and more. He later became a member of the Magnum society and continued his work into old age. If you have the time, it's really worth digging into his work as he had a real eye for striking images that provide a lot of context for the situation he was in. He used to travel with very little besides a sleeping bag and camera so he often experienced the harsher side of life while on the job. At times his photos were smuggled out of the soviet borders, and published anonymously, to keep him safe. Check the link for a good starting point on Magnum's website!
Feb 10, 2025
went to the exhibition of the photographs he took around europe in the sixties and it was incredibly beautiful and inspiring
Dec 9, 2024
[great stuff](https://www.google.com/search?q=william+eggleston+photos&hl=en-us&udm=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwixn538jJuKAxUlnokEHQtsHM8QtI8BegQIABBL), so mundane and yet just so colorful and fascinating.
Dec 9, 2024
Top Recs from @greenstar
1d ago
Feb 8, 2025
Lately I've been spending too much time scouring every corner of eBay I can for the cheapest and most delightful soviet era porcelain figurines available
I didn't even realize it until diving head first into this rabbit hole, but I have had soviet era porcelain figurines my whole life (a bunny and a bull for those curious), so I guess I was always destined to develop a fondness for the form, and eventually dig a little deeper into it.
There is something so incredibly charming and also incredibly interesting about these porcelain pieces! These little guys!
There's a lot of history to dig into that I've barely scratched the surface of AT ALL, but I'm fascinated by how porcelain reflected the common sentiments* of the times, the economic conditions, the artistic movements and ideas of the day, and also the ability (or lack thereof) of people to stay in one place and hold onto something so "useless" and easily broken.
I have very, very few things from any of my ancestors. Figurines like these make me think about the way history and art are passed down to us, forgotten, broken, left behind, sold in thrift stores and online, if they survive at all.
Figurine collections are kind of a barometer of safety and stability, or at least how dedicated to the illusion of it you might be.
They also make me think about how useful "useless" things can be. How even art that is purely decorative can be thought-provoking (by for example valorizing "folks"), or just make you happy (via being very cute! Or expert use of color and form!).
Grannies collect this shit for many good reasons and I'm starting to catch on.
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* Notably the $$$ collectors type ones are the ethnographic figurines, something I NEED to read an academic paper about.
Especially, because Ive noticed some of these figurines depicting "ethnic types" are inaccurate copies of earlier prints, which themselves should be placed under immense scrutiny! This is all extra interesting in the context of the porcelain industry transitioning from imperial rule to the soviet era. The ways of talking about ethnicity changed, (in addition obviously to y'know, everything!) but the products produced largely remained the same. Lots to think about!!!
Jan 31, 2025