Filtering Reservoir and Main Road. Ermachit. Golodnaia Steppe

1905
In the late 19th century Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, initiated a development project in Turkestan to create an area for raising cotton, wheat, and livestock in the Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe”) by diverting water from the Syr Darya River.This view near the Ermachit settlement of a component in the irrigation system includes part of the mainline canal, constructed in 1907–13, and a reservoir used to purify the Syr Darya water by sedimentation. The thick growth of reeds in the foreground channel also served to cleanse the water of some of the soil impurities gathered in its flow through an arid region. In the background is the hazy outline of the Turkestan Range. 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. In 1911 his travels took him to Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan and neighboring states), where he photographed traditional culture as well as the development brought about by Russian settlement and investment.

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Filename: 5836.jpg
Copyright: acku Afghanistan
Image Size: 1800x1649 / 547.4KB; 1905 Kazakhstan Qaraghandy Oblast Betpak-Dala Reservoirs Lakes Landscapes Photo WDL 010494
Contained in galleries: KAZAKHSTAN

1905<br />
In the late 19th century Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, initiated a development project in Turkestan to create an area for raising cotton, wheat, and livestock in the Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe”) by diverting water from the Syr Darya River.This view near the Ermachit settlement of a component in the irrigation system includes part of the mainline canal, constructed in 1907–13, and a reservoir used to purify the Syr Darya water by sedimentation. The thick growth of reeds in the foreground channel also served to cleanse the water of some of the soil impurities gathered in its flow through an arid region. In the background is the hazy outline of the Turkestan Range. 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. In 1911 his travels took him to Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan and neighboring states), where he photographed traditional culture as well as the development brought about by Russian settlement and investment.