Prokudin-Gorskii, Sergei Mikhailovich (1863-1943), Russian chemist, photographer, and pioneer of colour photography, born in Murom, east of Moscow. After studying science at the Institute of Applied Technology, he worked in Berlin, then Paris, and encountered two leading photo-chemists, Adolf Miethe and Edmé Jules Maumené, who significantly influenced his career. Back in Russia, he established courses on phototechnology, photographed episodes of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5), and (1906-9) edited the journal Fotograf-Liubitel (Amateur Photographer). He also developed a practical three-colour system, using a modified camera designed by Miethe. Although more cumbersome than the contemporary autochrome process, and initially limited to static subjects, it was capable of producing beautiful results, e.g. the portraits of Tolstoy taken at Yasnaya Polyana in May 1908. In 1909, after a successful lantern-slide presentation to the imperial family, Prokudin received an open-ended commission, with generous funding and travel facilities, to photograph throughout the empire, a task he pursued until 1915. After emigrating in 1918 he lived in Norway, England, and France, and worked on colour cinematography. The US Library of Congress holds c. 2, 000 of his colour plates of pre-revolutionary Russia.
— Robin Lenman
Bibliography
- Allshouse, R. H., Photographs for the Tsar (1980)
