Man in Courtyard
1907
This man with a turban and brightly colored robe is probably a pilgrim. In his right hand he holds a green tubeteika (traditional Central Asian cap), while under his left arm is a folded red mat. In the background is an adobe structure that appears to be a modest khanaka (hostel for pilgrims), of which there were many in Bukhara. 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 a trip in January 1907 that focused on the ancient cities of Bukhara and Samarkand. After the Russian conquest of Samarkand (1868), the Emirate of Bukhara remained nominally independent but in fact became a Russian protectorate linked to settlements along the Trans-Caspian Railway. In contrast to Samarkand, Bukhara’s traditional culture and appearance remained relatively intact.
- Filename
- 6437.jpg
- Copyright
- acku Afghanistan
- Image Size
- 1800x1706 / 708.3KB
- Contained in galleries
- UZBEKISTAN