Photographs from Kazakhstan / Sergei Ivanovich Borisov

I was looking up something on Kazakhstan and came across these beautiful photographs.  The photographs were taken between 1911 and 1914, and they are the work of Sergei Ivanovich Borisov (1867-1931), a Russian photographer.  More than 1000 of his images from his trek across the mountain areas of Altai were used as postcards for the Russian Empire.  They appear to be black & white photographs that were then hand-coloured, but I have not been able to confirm that.  Meanwhile, Sergei Prokudin-Gorski, another Russian photographer from that same period, had a few patents for his colour technique.  [Source]  So, indeed colour images were being produced at this time, but, these shots by Borisov still look to me to be hand-coloured b&ws.  Whatever they are, I hope you enjoy them! 

Kazakh woman in traditional wedding dress

Kazakh man on horse with Golden Eagle



 Inside a Kazakh Yurt

View of Cherga Village

Chuya Trakt on the Slopes of the Boma Kyngrar

POSTSCRIPT:  As it turns out, two days prior to this post without my having seen it, there was a post on The Photo-Eye Blog featuring the work of John Delaney and his series of photographs on the nomadic people of Kazakhstan and Mongolia and in particular, their training of Golden Eagles.  Uncanny timing!  I am happy to now have a context for the shot of the man holding the Golden Eagle.  Now we have a story behind it.  You can read an interview with John Delaney and see some of his work on the Golden Eagle Nomads by clicking here.  

WW II Kodachrome Photographs

My son sent me a link to Pavel Kosenko's blog which showcases 4 x 5 Kodachrome photographs from World War II.  I am posting some of the images by Alfred T. Palmer, several of which were shot for the Office of War Information.  For me, these photographs feel like glamor shots - for some reason, they make me think of George Hurrell's Hollywood portraits!  Maybe I am just responding to the time period and how that may have influenced this style of shooting. 

I am also posting a shot from this same time frame by Howard R. Hollem that shows not just the vivid colour of Kodachrome, but the exceptional detail it rendered - check out the fuzz on the woman's pink sweater.  I encourage you to check out Pavel's blog to see more of these beautiful, vintage photographs replete with captions.  Enjoy!

This next shot is by Howard R. Hollem (see what I mean about the pink fuzz?)

Daguerreotype

Someone near and dear to me has a birthday this month. Two of his passions are sailing and photography, so I figured this post featuring a daguerreotype case with embossed sailboats would be a perfect commemoration.

The case has the initials E. White embossed in the sails. Edward White was a daguerreotype photographer and one of the major United States case and plate manufacturers in the years between 1841 and 1850. He was also known as one of the major daguerreotype equipment dealers. His portrait studio, known as the United States Daguerreian Gallery, was located at 175 Broadway in New York City. Inside this case, is a 1/6th daguerreotype plate of a man holding an open book. And, since my 'near and dear' also happens to be an avid reader, this post is even more apropos.

Herbert Ponting

With the recent release of "The Lost Photographs of Captain Scott" (Robert Falcon Scott's Lost Photographs -- click here to see the New York Times articles and slideshow), I thought it would be fitting to also mention the work of Herbert Ponting.

Herbert Ponting started out as the photographer and cinematographer for Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Expedition to the South Pole (1910-1913). Once the sledging began, a strenuous trek to move supplies across the Ross Ice Shelf, Ponting returned to civilization in 1912. He had amassed more than 1700 photographs and he was spared the ill fate of the expedition. Robert Falcon Scott continued as photographer in place of Ponting but he perished on the Ross Ice Shelf in November of 1912. Along with Scott's photographs, his diaries and journals were found and I think they may be even more moving than the photographs -- how could they not be? They describe the last days of life and pleas to their countrymen to look after the expedition's widows and survivors.

In this post, however, I am featuring the work of Herbert Ponting.

It is worth noting that Ponting was the first man to use a portable movie camera, a "cinematograph" in Antarctica. He also took some of the first known color still photographs and used a flash for several of the photographs.

Also related, is a post I did on Frank Hurley (click here), the photographer of Douglas Mawson's Antarctic Expedition (1911-1914) and Ernest Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-1917).










Self Portrait

Frank Hurley

Frank Hurley was the photographer who documented Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition that set out in 1914.

To say I admire his work is an understatement. Other greats of this era were noted sometimes just for the fact that they had a good or great eye and were prolific, but Frank Hurley simply made magic happen in every photograph. To pigeon-hole him as a war photographer (which he was), as a reportage photographer (which he was), as a Master of the medium (which he was), as an expert in capturing the beauty and the drama of Antarctica (which he most certainly was given six trips between 1911 and 1932) is to not define him well enough.

By the way, his first camera was a Kodak Brownie.
The Endurance
Roald Amundsen aboard the Endurance (with crew mates)
Lupoid, one of Shackleton's sled dogs (above)
Dr. Leonard Hussey holding Samson (below)

Aboard the Endurance

Antarctica Adelie Penguins
Self-portrait
WW I
WW I
WW I
Australian Camel Corps