I chose these two images because they display Imperial Russia’s emphasis on the production of industrial crops over food crops. Approximately 80% of the trade section in the Turkestan album is dedicated to industrial crops while only 20% displayed … Read more

Obshchaia molitva v godovye prazdniki i dolzhnostnye litsa pri mechetiakh. Molitva v prazdnik Ramazana (Namazi Idi-Ramazan). V g. Tashkendie , v mecheti Sheikhantaura. Translation: Communal prayer at the annual festival and the officials of the mosques. Prayer at Ramazan (prayer … Read more

This image depicts a group of Kyrgyz men on horseback preparing to play a traditional game called Kok Beriu, also known as Kok Boru, which is a game that involves two teams on horseback trying to get a goat carcass … Read more

In the British Raj, the colonial rulers used photography as a way of establishing their racial superiority and as a way of distancing themselves from the people they ruled. It also allowed them to create a racial difference between the … Read more

I chose these pictures because their inclusion in the album, and the album’s vast amount of pictures referring to cotton production in general, reflect the priorities of the imperial state. Russia’s expansion into Central Asia in the 1860s and 70s … Read more

This painting is a stunning illustration of the tragedies of the Russo-Turkish war. Vereshchagin worked as a war correspondent and witnessed the the war’s severity and intensity with his own eyes. This painting masterfully depicts the emotional rawness of the … Read more