Adobe Buildings in Desert Plains

1905
Shown here are a cotton field and adobe buildings on the estate of Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, in Golodnaia Steppe (Hungry Steppe), located in present-day Uzbekistan. Exiled from Saint Petersburg in 1874 because of a family scandal, Nicholas settled in 1881 in Tashkent. There he sponsored a number of philanthropic and entrepreneurial projects. Among the latter was a vast irrigation scheme intended to provide arable land to Russian settlers and make Golodnaia Steppe a productive area for raising cotton and wheat. 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 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. His work there reveals a dual purpose: to illustrate progress and development as a result of Russian settlement, and to record the monuments of traditional Islamic culture.

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Filename: 6512.jpg
Copyright: acku Afghanistan
Image Size: 1800x1706 / 634.6KB; 1905 Central and South Asia Adobe Buildings Desert Plains Cotton Fields Photo WDL 010571
Contained in galleries: CENTRAL AND SOUTH ASIA

1905<br />
Shown here are a cotton field and adobe buildings on the estate of Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, in Golodnaia Steppe (Hungry Steppe), located in present-day Uzbekistan. Exiled from Saint Petersburg in 1874 because of a family scandal, Nicholas settled in 1881 in Tashkent. There he sponsored a number of philanthropic and entrepreneurial projects. Among the latter was a vast irrigation scheme intended to provide arable land to Russian settlers and make Golodnaia Steppe a productive area for raising cotton and wheat. 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 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. His work there reveals a dual purpose: to illustrate progress and development as a result of Russian settlement, and to record the monuments of traditional Islamic culture.