How Russia has changed in 100 years
About a century ago, photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky traveled all over the Russian Empire. Being under the patronage of Emperor Nicholas II, he captured a variety of people and places on his photographs using his own method of developing color photographs.
A few years ago, Prokudin-Gorsky's photographs became an Internet sensation thanks to digital technologies that made it possible to turn photos into a vivid display of the beginning of the XX century. A small group of enthusiasts went strictly to the places where Sergey Mikhailovich took his photos. The following pairs of photos, separated by a century of wars, revolutions and border changes, are remarkable for how little seems to have changed in a hundred years.
Monument to the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812, Polotsk, Belarus. Photo: Maxim.
Cathedral in Mozhaisk, Moscow region, 1911/2008. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
The Korolistskali River, Georgia. 1912/2010. Photo: Shota Guyabidze.
Assumption Cathedral, Vladimir, 1911/2015. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Nilov Monastery, Tver, 1910/2010.
Rostov Kremlin. 1911/2009. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Cathedral in Mozhaisk, 1911/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
The railway is not far from Kondopogi. 1916/2012. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Madrasah in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. 1911/2014. Photo: Alexander Zhurba.
Imperial Travel Palace in Borodino, Moscow region. 1911/2012. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Smolensk Kremlin. 1912/2008. Photo: Sergey Amelin.
The church in Novaya Ladoga. 1909 / Date unknown. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Nilov Monastery, Tver. 1910/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Dmitrievsky Cathedral, Vladimir. 1911/2009. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Torzhok, 1910/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
The Chusovaya River near the village of Sloboda, 1912/2011. Photo: Pavel Raspopov.
Vitebsk, Belarus, 1912/2012. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Perm, 1909/2012. Photo: Vitaly Sizov.
Street in Ostashkov, 1910/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Village Novelties, 1910/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Ferapontov Monastery, Mozhaysk, 1911/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Monument to Peter the Great, Vescovo, 1911/2008. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
The village of Dryanovo, 1912/2015. Photo: Konstantin Kudryashov.
Church of the Nativity of Christ in Krokhino. 1909/2013. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Frescoes in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Yaroslavl, 1911/2011. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Ferapontov Monastery, 1911/2012. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Church in Yaroslavl, 1911/2009. Photo: Anton Moiseev.
Tobolsk, view from the city Cathedral, 1912/2012. Photo: Timur Karymov.
Nilov Monastery, Tver, 1910/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Church in Ankhimovo, 1909/2013. Photo: V. Ratnikov.
Keywords: XX century | Past | Russian Empire | Then and now | Photographer | Photography