
The history
Prokudin-Gorsky was a Russian chemist who developed one of the first colour film systems. He was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II to travel throughout Russia, including parts of Siberia and remote regions which have never again been documented, to take photographs of the Russian landscape, people, and way of life. These photographs provide an unmatched view of pre-revolution Russia, and are some of the earliest colour photographs in the world.
The exhibition
The photographs in Primrose are chronologically arranged to show how photographic technique both influenced and documented historical events. These include early hand tinted photographs of Tsarist officials, photo-montages developed by the Bolshevik avant-garde of the revolution, colour photography used in the socialist realist propaganda of the communist regime, and finally as a mass medium when it became cheaply available in the 1970s. As well as being intriguing art objects, these photographs show how image making technology is not only a means of recording history, but can also be an agent in shaping it.
What | Primrose: Early Colour Photography in Russia, The Photographer's Gallery |
Where | The Photographers' Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London, W1F 7LW | MAP |
Nearest tube | Oxford Circus (underground) |
When |
01 Aug 14 – 19 Oct 14, 12:00 AM – 12:00 AM |
Price | £Free |
Website | Click here for more information |