Kebab Restaurant. Samarkand
1905
This photograph was taken at a shashlychnaia, a type of café serving shashlyk (kebab), or meat roasted on skewers. The cook, wearing a red turban and colorful robe, is seated on a platform behind a grill with two skewers. The metal pots would contain marinated meat (probably mutton). To the left are stacks of lavash (flat bread). Such cafes often served food in courtyards. In this winter view the clients are bundled in quilted robes against the cold. On the far left an elderly man, who may be the proprietor, is seated just inside the premises. 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. Prokudin-Gorskii was particularly interested in recently acquired territories of the Russian Empire such as Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan and neighboring states), which he visited on a number of occasions, including two trips in 1911. Turkestan appealed to him not only for its Islamic architecture but also for scenes of traditional life in cities such as Samarkand.
- Filename
- 5810.jpg
- Copyright
- acku Afghanistan
- Image Size
- 1800x1664 / 441.7KB
- Contained in galleries
- UZBEKISTAN