A scientist, an inventor, a photo artist S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky — in electronic sources of the Presidential Library

August 30, 2017, will mark the 154th anniversary of the birth of a scientist, a Russian pioneer in the field of color photography Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky. There is an extensive collection dedicated to the master on the Presidential Library website. It includes scientific articles revealing the secrets and nuances of the first color photo images processing, documentaries, historical materials and studies, as well as the unique works of Prokudin-Gorsky — priceless life illustrations of the Russian Empire of the early XX century.

Sergei Mikhaylovich talks to the reader about his work from the pages of the magazine “Photography Lover,” the digitized issues of which are now available on the Presidential Library website. Prokudin-Gorsky assigned color an important role, accentuating that it is owing to color the effect of photography on a viewer increases: “No matter how perfectly the photograph was taken, the monotonous, monochrome its coloring cannot fully satisfy a human being. Look at the most boring landscape in nature, and yet the blue sky, a cloud, some greens — all this makes it alive.”

In his article “Photography in natural colors” Prokudin-Gorsky describes in detail the entire process of obtaining a color photograph. And he begins with the theory: “The complexity of the method does not allow me to write exclusively about the mechanical part of the work, because in this case every failure will put a worker in a desperate situation. It is necessary to familiarize yourself with the theoretical side of the matter, enter into a clear understanding of it and then start to work.” There is no need to say that in this material the reader will find the most detailed instructions describing the entire process of creating a color photograph using the Prokudin-Gorsky method, as well as practical advice to newcomers-photographers.

“The method of color photography, used by the speaker, rests on the principle of decomposing a color picture by means of color filters into three pictures, combining them with a special projection lamp equipped with three light filters — red, blue-violet and green, — reproduces on the screen a picture in its true colors,” — that is how briefly described the method of the photographer in the Notes of the Imperial Russian Technical Society, dedicated to the report and the results of Prokudin-Gorsky's work in the field of color photography.

Sergei Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky was of an outstanding personality: “successfully combining studies at the Natural Faculty of the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology with lessons in the painting class at the Academy of Arts and studies at the university laboratory of Mendeleyev, he received a comprehensive education. An obvious preference for natural sciences was given to chemistry,” — S. Garanina writes in her article Prokudin-Gorsky. The beginning of color photography in Russia. Numerous works by the leading Russian specialist on the work of photo artist were also added to the electronic collection of the Presidential Library.

Color photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky made a real sensation, the glory of the master reached the Emperor Nicholas II. The meeting of the autocrat and the artist is described in detail in one of the documentary films included in the collection. In The Color of Time movie the own memoirs of Prokudin-Gorsky are read: “During the break, when tea with soft drinks were served, the Emperor estranged from the group of courtiers and, approaching me, began to ask about what I mean to do further with this remarkable work. I explained him my views on the various applications that my work might have, and added: “Your Majesty would perhaps also be interested in seeing from time to time true Russia and its ancient monuments, as well as the beauty of the diverse nature of our great native land.” By this time, Prokudin-Gorsky has already begun to form his famous collection, owing to which we can look into different parts of Russia at the beginning of the XX century. Now he received the supreme support.

It is worth noting that the photographer embodied his plan for life solely on his own means, the state provided him only transport support. “Money quickly melted, the collection grew, the processed material on the sheet glass was awkward-to-handle enough to store it,” — S. Garanina said. “Large private companies offered him capital, but the belief that the collection should belong to the state made him turn to the government.”

The case On acquiring the collection of photographic images of Russian sights, compiled by Professor Prokudin-Gorsky, into the treasury is available on the Presidential Library website. The scientist writes to Stolypin that in 10 years he will make 10 000 pictures, and offers to buy from him completed work and to subsidize further photography production. As a result, “the Council of Ministers came to the conclusion that this collection can be of great importance for the popularization both among young people and in general among the population for acquaintance with the most remarkable places of our native land.”

Prokudin-Gorsky failed to fully realize his grandiose idea — the First World War broke out, the empire slowly moved to its collapse. However, the photographer managed to take pictures in the Urals and Siberia, in the Crimea, Dagestan, Finland, Central Asia, photographs of his travels along the Volga and the Oka. Unfortunately, part of the huge collection because of the events that shook Russia and the world, was lost, part appeared abroad.

In 2010, the Library of the US Congress handed about two thousand digitized color photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky to the Presidential Library stock. These are the pictures taken in the period from 1909 to 1912, and also in 1916. These pictures depict the unique natural landscapes, architectural and cultural monuments, and scenes of everyday life and work of different population stratum of the Russian Empire. Today all these works are in open access on the Presidential Library website.

The Presidential Library introduces the works of S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky to the residents of foreign countries. So, on October 11, 2017, the exhibition dedicated to the “Vast expanses of Russia in Color Photography by Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky” will open within the framework of the 69th Frankfurt Book Fair at the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin. The exposition will include 70 photographs taken by the master during his travels through the Russian Empire at the beginning of the XX century.

Besides from the great historical, the works of S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky also bear a cultural value: according to these images the restorers can recreate that what was once lost. In 2013, the Presidential Library handed over to the Old Ladoga State National Park and Museum some photographs of the monuments of the first capital of Russia, owing to which it makes possible to restore and to save the national shrines. For instance, the paintings in the St. George’s Church — the one of the few surviving examples of Russian frescoes art of the XII century, most of which were lost in the XVII century. “An important goal pursued by color photography is to leave a visual evidence for the future. We have in our hands a precious means of saving from oblivion all the monuments which are being destroyed,” — the photographer said. And today we see how after a hundred years his words becoming a reality.