Table of contents:
- The first Russian photographic apparatus
- The only photo with Gogol and the first photo retouch
- Chronicler of Petersburg life
- Author of color photographs
- The first Russian female photographer
Video: What did the first Russian photographers shoot and what technique did they use?
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The art of photography has spread in Russia following Europe. With the assistance of the Academy of Sciences, descriptions of photographic processes, the first equipment, chemicals and samples of photographs appeared at the disposal of the first photographic specialists. Representatives of all classes wanted to be photographers in Russia. Everybody - scientists, doctors, peasants and officials - applied to open a photo business. But the greatest success in the new art form, of course, was achieved by people from the fine arts school.
The first Russian photographic apparatus
The printer Grekov remained in history as the inventor of the Russian photographic apparatus and the pioneer of portrait photography. Grekov's photographic apparatus consisted of three drawer sections. The first was a camera obscura, the second was responsible for the iodization of the plates, and in the third, the plates were already manifested under the influence of mercury vapor.
Aleksey was the first of the Russian artisans to master calotype - obtaining a negative on paper soaked in a light-sensitive solution. Immediately after the discovery of daguerreotype by the Frenchman Louis Daguerre in 1840, Grekov improved the technology and strengthened the image. In the same period, Grekov opened a pilot art salon for portrait photography.
The only photo with Gogol and the first photo retouch
Another Russian pioneer in photography is Sergei Levitsky. The starting pictures were taken by him during the Caucasian expedition in 1842. This trip became a boundary for creativity - the clerk left his place and now devoted himself only to photography. For pictures from Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk, the photographer was awarded a gold medal at a Paris photo exhibition. Traveling around Rome, Levitsky photographed members of the Russian community - this picture was the only one with Nikolai Gogol. Subsequently, he also became the author of the first collective photograph of the representatives of Sovremennik - Turgenev, Grigorovich, Tolstoy, Ostrovsky and Goncharov.
In St. Petersburg, the photographer opened a daguerreotype studio-photo studio "Svetopis", one of the first to offer photo collages and retouching to the viewer. In parallel, Levitsky was also involved in the technical support of the creative process. According to his drawings, an "accordion" was designed - a camera with bellows to facilitate focusing of a lightweight camera. Nicholas I, Alexander II and other representatives of the royal court got into the lens of Levitsky - the photographer managed to capture as many as four generations of Russian rulers. In 1877, Levitsky and his elder son, who worked in tandem with his father, were awarded the title "Photographers of Their Imperial Majesties."
Chronicler of Petersburg life
Karl Bulla is considered in Russia to be the father of photo essay and the chronicler of everyday life in St. Petersburg. He was among the first to take up street photography and was the only photographer to receive the badge of honor "Photographer of St. Petersburg". The dry bromo-gelatin plates produced by the master in his own laboratory have been used by photographers all over the world.
Bulla captured on talented photographs the most significant Russian events of that period: the launching of the Aurora, the 1903 flood in St. Petersburg, the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, the revolutionary events of 1917. In his own printing house, postcards with metropolitan views are printed. The works of the Bull reporter were bought by both domestic newspapers and magazines, and foreign, in particular, German print media. Carl Bull also performed portrait work, fixing Emperor Nicholas II, Stolypin, Gorky, Chaliapin, Kshesinskaya, etc.
Author of color photographs
In those years, when black-and-white photographs in themselves seemed an exotic rarity, photographer-chemist Prokudin-Gorsky traveled around the expanses of the Russian Empire, creating color photographs. Sergei Mikhailovich was not a pioneer in color photography, but he managed to significantly correct the photo method invented by Adolf Mite, improving the final product. The inventor photographer dreamed of creating a Russian photographic chronicle. In 1909, Prokudin-Gorsky, at a meeting with Emperor Nicholas II himself, secured the full support of the first man in Russia, after which he went to travel around the imperial provinces.
For filming objects of the Russian Empire, the photographer received from the state a railway carriage, a motor boat, a steamer and a Ford car specially equipped for these purposes. Any other related expenses were covered by the photographer. Among the photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky there are color works with Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Chaliapin. According to unverified information, he also photographed the royal family, but historians have not met such photos of his authorship. After the end of the October Revolution, the already experienced photographer Prokudin-Gorsky went to live in France, and the Library of Congress bought the collection of his historically valuable photographs from the heirs.
The first Russian female photographer
Montenegrin origin Elena Morozovskaya (originally Knyazhevich) managed to work as both a teacher and a shop assistant. The woman began her career as a photographer as an amateur. After completing photographic courses in 1892 at the Scientific and Technical Society of St. Petersburg, she continued her specialized education in Paris. Returning home, she opened her own photo studio on the capital's Nevsky Prospect. Morozovskaya was a secular person, she was a member of the Ladies' Photographic Circle at the Russian Women's Mutually Charitable Society.
Rotating in creative circles, she regularly took pictures of writers, actors and artists. In fact, she was the court "secular chronicler", being the author of a series of photos from the famous costume ball in 1903 in the Winter Palace and most of the theatrical premieres of performances at the beginning of the 20th century. She was especially good at child portraits.
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