Volyn Bridge on the Emperor Nicholas I Canal. Golodnaia Steppe

1905
Among the primary initiators of development in Russian Turkestan was Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, who moved to Tashkent in 1881. There he sponsored a vast irrigation scheme to make Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe”) a productive area for cotton and wheat. A related goal was to provide arable land to attract settlers to this land where living conditions were harsh. This photograph shows a wooden bridge over the irrigation canal named in honor of Tsar Nicholas I near the Volyn settlement. On the right is a primitive house (probably of adobe brick) with sheds and three sluices for irrigation. The photograph is out of focus because the camera shifted during the exposure process. The image is by Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944), who used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire. In 1911 his travels took him to Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan and neighboring states), where he photographed Islamic architectural monuments as well as Russian development projects.

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Filename: 5831.jpg
Copyright: acku Afghanistan
Image Size: 1800x1671 / 452.9KB; 1905 Kazakhstan Qaraghandy Oblast Betpak-Dala Bridges Canals River Photo WDL 010489
Contained in galleries: KAZAKHSTAN

1905<br />
Among the primary initiators of development in Russian Turkestan was Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, who moved to Tashkent in 1881. There he sponsored a vast irrigation scheme to make Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe”) a productive area for cotton and wheat. A related goal was to provide arable land to attract settlers to this land where living conditions were harsh. This photograph shows a wooden bridge over the irrigation canal named in honor of Tsar Nicholas I near the Volyn settlement. On the right is a primitive house (probably of adobe brick) with sheds and three sluices for irrigation. The photograph is out of focus because the camera shifted during the exposure process. The image is by Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944), who used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire. In 1911 his travels took him to Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan and neighboring states), where he photographed Islamic architectural monuments as well as Russian development projects.