1907-1915: Pre-Revolutionary Russia in color
These pictures were taken by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky (1863–1944), developer of an early colour photographic process. He was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II to travel across the Russian Empire capturing its scenes and peoples in many thousands of colour photographs. The Tsar funded the work and had a specially adapted railway carriage made available to Prokudin-Gorsky as a darkroom. Following the Revolution of 1918, Prokudin-Gorsky and his family lived in Paris. Around half of his images had been detained by Communist authorities and were destroyed.
Images: Library of Congress
