The first photo exhibition in the Russian Empire was staged 160 years ago in Senate Square

February 2019 marks 160 years since the inauguration of the very first photo exhibition in Russia. It was staged in St. Petersburg in the Holy Synod building, which today houses the Presidential Library. The photographs taken by Pyotr Sevastyanov were put on display for the general public. They showed ancient manuscripts, sculptures, church items and other artifacts from the monasteries on Mount Athos. Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna also visited the exhibition. Pyotr Sevastyanov was honoured with the Order of St. Vladimir 3rd class, and also became the honorary free member of the Academy of Arts.

In 1857–1860 a diplomat, researcher, traveler and archaeologist Pyotr Sevastyanov (1811–1867) made three expeditions to Mount Athos. As a result, he built up a collection of photographs of Christian relics - a unique thing for that time. P. I. Sevastyanov was credited with applying photography for the needs of archaeology. He was particularly honoured, for his first photographs showed monuments, which had been inaccessible to scientists - the monuments of Mount Athos”. All exhibits were moved to the Academy of Arts: roughly 1200 icon images, up to 200 drawings of Byzantine architecture, over 5000 pages of manuscripts.

In 2017 the Presidential Library mounted a multimedia exhibition “Heritage of P. I. Sevastyanov: Preservation and Study of Antiquities of Mount Athos”, which spotlighted the work of the pioneer. It showcased photographs, documents, personal letters of P. Sevastyanov, as well as unique materials relating to the Sevastyanov family, which were provided by descendants of the celebrated archaeologist, who had been painstakingly collecting archival records for years. The exhibits were transferred to the Presidential Library for digitization and then entered its electronic collections, which today amount to over 770,000 items.

Various photographs are regularly added to the leading national electronic repository. Of particular interest are works by participants in the “Foreign View” International Annual Multimedia Contest. In 2019 the Presidential Library will hold the 10th edition of the contest. The jury accepts photographs and videos, which share a common theme. Thus, in 2018, the contest was dedicated to the Year of Volunteers and was held under the motto “Freedom to Support”. More than 700 people from 20 countries of the world took part in it. Today, the Presidential Library’s collections feature about 30,000 electronic copies of photographs and original digital images by “Foreigner View” Contest participants, which have already become available to the public