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Adobe Building in a Grassy Field, Trees in Background

1905
Seen here is an irrigated wheat field, with an abandoned adobe brick dwelling of traditional but recent construction in the background. The roof is supported with embedded log beams, whose ends protrude from the masonry. The trees in the background indicate an oasis settlement, probably of the Teke ethnic group near the town of Bayramaly (present-day Turkmenistan). Bayramaly is located in the Province of Mary (successor to the fabled city of Merv) on the railroad from Ashgabat to Tashkent. 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 rich traditional culture and monuments of Islamic architecture, but also for the transformation brought by Russian settlement, particularly in agriculture.

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6495.jpg
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acku Afghanistan
Image Size
1800x1704 / 766.1KB
Contained in galleries
TURKMENISTAN
1905<br />
Seen here is an irrigated wheat field, with an abandoned adobe brick dwelling of traditional but recent construction in the background. The roof is supported with embedded log beams, whose ends protrude from the masonry. The trees in the background indicate an oasis settlement, probably of the Teke ethnic group near the town of Bayramaly (present-day Turkmenistan). Bayramaly is located in the Province of Mary (successor to the fabled city of Merv) on the railroad from Ashgabat to Tashkent. 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 rich traditional culture and monuments of Islamic architecture, but also for the transformation brought by Russian settlement, particularly in agriculture.