Today I have hand wrapped some beautiful pictures taken by Maxim Petrovich Dmitriev (born 1858). The collection appears to be from some kind of religious pilgrimage but his body of work covered many aspects of Russian life for the normal folks. He established a photo-studio and produced work there for more than 40 years. Dmitriev showed his piccies around the globe and won a number of prizes. From 1891 to 1992, Dmitriev created a series covering the peoples of the down trodden Volga region.
The poor folk of the Volga had met the curse of typhoid and cholera, worsened by severe drought. This may have been the period when the following photos were taken, I can’t seem to find out exactly where or when this all occurred.
From 1894 – 1904 Dmitriev made photos of Volga and its neighborhood from the mouth of the Volga to Astrakhan. After the revolution of 1917, Dmitriev found himself effected by the heat of Soviet authorities simply because he owned a studio; the authorities stole the lion’s share of his negatives from him. Shame.
These photos are bleak, disturbing, dark, morbid and without wanting to sound like one of those idiots – honest. Black and white suits the mood and content perfectly…
MORE RUSSIAN PHOTOGRAPHY:
PHOTOGRAPHY FROM ST PETERSBURG
