Travels in old Russia.

The Musee Zadkine recently introduced me to Sergei Prokudin- Gorskii's work; his use of combining science and art led him to experiment with color photography in the early part of the twentieth century when this was still an area of the unknown. His experimentation's looked into 'three colour photography'which in principle is separating the colors that together combine to form white light; creating his 'optical colour projections' as he described them. 

Prokudin- Gorskii was of noble Russian background and in 1909 was granted an audience at the imperial palace in Tsarskoye Selo. His meeting with the Czar was to prove a turning point in his life. In previous years he had traveled widely in Russia, taking photographs wherever he went. This led him to realize that he had an exceptional means of capturing the outstanding natural and artistic riches of old Russia, and this gave him cause to make a plan for building a systematic record of the country's heritage. The Czar was thrilled with his photography and immediately lent him support. Prodkudin -Gorskii was given letters of endorsement and help in setting up a train carriage as a photo laboratory. He then worked with the minister for transport to draw up a programme which would allow him to execute ten thousand photographs over ten years, covering the Baltic to the pacific. 

This exhibition at Musee Zadkine seems to give the ghostly photographs and story of Produkin-Gorskii a new lease of life, and also gives the viewer a glimpse into the beautiful landscape and cultural heritage of Russia through a unique way. Having the chance to look at the cultural background of another is interesting when compared to ones own.