Flat Breads Vendor. Samarkand

1905
Seen here is a vendor of round flat bread, related to lavash and Russian lepeshki. In this carefully posed photograph the youth is wearing a striped padded robe and holds a tray with the bread arranged on a patterned cloth with tassels. His colorful turban supports a flat wicker tray with piles of the bread. The bottom of the large head tray is covered with a striped cloth that extends backward over the shoulders. The draped cloth, intended to offer protection from the sun, provides a sartorial flourish. In the background is a wall of adobe brick partially covered with stucco. 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. He was 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 ethnic types and scenes of traditional life in cities such as Samarkand.

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Filename: 615.jpg
Copyright: acku Afghanistan
Image Size: 1800x1766 / 546.0KB; 1905 Uzbekistan Samarqand Samarkand Breads Vendors Street Vendors Uzbeks Men Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Photo WDL 010018
Contained in galleries: UZBEKISTAN

1905<br />
Seen here is a vendor of round flat bread, related to lavash and Russian lepeshki. In this carefully posed photograph the youth is wearing a striped padded robe and holds a tray with the bread arranged on a patterned cloth with tassels. His colorful turban supports a flat wicker tray with piles of the bread. The bottom of the large head tray is covered with a striped cloth that extends backward over the shoulders. The draped cloth, intended to offer protection from the sun, provides a sartorial flourish. In the background is a wall of adobe brick partially covered with stucco. 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. He was 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 ethnic types and scenes of traditional life in cities such as Samarkand.