How Russia has changed in 100 years

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Categories: History | Photo project

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.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Monument to the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812, Polotsk, Belarus. Photo: Maxim.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Cathedral in Mozhaisk, Moscow region, 1911/2008. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

The Korolistskali River, Georgia. 1912/2010. Photo: Shota Guyabidze.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Assumption Cathedral, Vladimir, 1911/2015. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Nilov Monastery, Tver, 1910/2010.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Rostov Kremlin. 1911/2009. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Cathedral in Mozhaisk, 1911/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

The railway is not far from Kondopogi. 1916/2012. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Madrasah in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. 1911/2014. Photo: Alexander Zhurba.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Imperial Travel Palace in Borodino, Moscow region. 1911/2012. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Smolensk Kremlin. 1912/2008. Photo: Sergey Amelin.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

The church in Novaya Ladoga. 1909 / Date unknown. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Nilov Monastery, Tver. 1910/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Dmitrievsky Cathedral, Vladimir. 1911/2009. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Torzhok, 1910/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

The Chusovaya River near the village of Sloboda, 1912/2011. Photo: Pavel Raspopov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Vitebsk, Belarus, 1912/2012. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Perm, 1909/2012. Photo: Vitaly Sizov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Street in Ostashkov, 1910/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Village Novelties, 1910/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Ferapontov Monastery, Mozhaysk, 1911/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Monument to Peter the Great, Vescovo, 1911/2008. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

The village of Dryanovo, 1912/2015. Photo: Konstantin Kudryashov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Church of the Nativity of Christ in Krokhino. 1909/2013. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Frescoes in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Yaroslavl, 1911/2011. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Ferapontov Monastery, 1911/2012. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Church in Yaroslavl, 1911/2009. Photo: Anton Moiseev.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Tobolsk, view from the city Cathedral, 1912/2012. Photo: Timur Karymov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Nilov Monastery, Tver, 1910/2010. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

How Russia has changed in 100 years

Church in Ankhimovo, 1909/2013. Photo: V. Ratnikov.

Keywords: XX century | Past | Russian Empire | Then and now | Photographer | Photography

Post News Article

Recent articles

26 tips on how best to store food
26 tips on how best to store food

Do you like to cook, buy food for the future, but the short life of vegetables and fruits does not give you peace of mind? There is ...

"Eat your salad — don't mess with guys": what is a tattoo cover themselves vegans
"Eat your salad — don't mess with guys": what is a tattoo ...

Ideally, veganism involves not only the rejection of eating animal products. It is a way of life where there are products which ...

Fashion photographer Jacob Sadrak and his gentle eroticism
Fashion photographer Jacob Sadrak and his gentle eroticism

Mexican photographer Jacob Sadrak is rightfully considered one of the masters of fashion photography in Latin America. His work has ...

Related articles

Phantom Shanghai: what is left from the old town
Phantom Shanghai: what is left from the old town

In the project "Phantom Shanghai" canadian photographer Greg Girard turned his lens on the city at the time of important changes. ...

18 rare historical photos that make you think about the past
18 rare historical photos that make you think about the past

Some old photos show such rare phenomena that you can look at them for hours. And behind each such frame from the past are the ...

What women's swimwear from a fashion designer of the 1930s looked like
What women's swimwear from a fashion designer of the 1930s ...

In the 1930s, the strict requirements of decency related to the appearance of women were rapidly retreating, and the ladies finally ...