The project “The Many Faces of Russia” presents archival photographs from the 19th century — cityscapes, genre scenes, portraits, and images of architectural monuments in Russian cities. Conveying the country’s ethnic and cultural diversity, these photographs form a vivid historical portrait of Russia, which celebrated its millennium in 1862.
The exhibition includes archival images from the collection of the State Museum and Exhibition Centre ROSPHOTO, featuring portraits of compatriots, landmark events, and views of major urban centers of the Russian Empire — St. Petersburg, Moscow, Novgorod, Arkhangelsk, and Rostov —as well as authentic life in national regions.
Landscape, ethnographic, and portrait photographs reflect the ethnocultural and social diversity of a vast, multinational country, the second largest in the world by land area. Historical and architectural monuments, construction scenes, national costumes and rituals — all of this, captured by the most remarkable Russian photographers of their time, creates a panoramic image of the many faces that make up Russia.
The exhibition features works by Ivan Barschevsky, photographic studio “Boisson and Eggler”, Maxim Dmitriev, Dmitry Ermakov, William Carrick, Alfred Lorens, Count Nostitz, Yakov Leitzinger, and many others, created over the period of the second half of the 19th to the early 20th century.
The exhibition is divided into three sections:
Genre Photography
Like genre painting, early genre photography focused on scenes from everyday life. In these early prints, photographers, much like painters, would find models, dress them in appropriate costumes, arrange interiors, and construct compositions resembling paintings.
Unique images of peasant types were created by the outstanding photographer William Carrick. Later, photographers began to capture genre scenes on the streets. The photograph “Russian Boys”, taken in Moscow in 1897, is possibly the first reportage image in Russia depicting people in motion.
Architectural and Landscape Photography
The section devoted to architectural and landscape photography is represented most extensively in the exhibition with works of Ivan Bianchi, Pyotr Pavlov, Fyodor Orlov, Alexander Ivanov-Terentyev, and others.
White-stone churches and fortifications are a unique feature of Russian architecture. The photographs capture views of major urban centers of the Russian Empire — St. Petersburg, Moscow, Sergiev Posad, Yaroslavl, Vologda, Yelets, Rostov, Alushta, and other towns across national territories.
Portrait Photography
The exhibition presents portraits of people from various cultural and social backgrounds, created by renowned photographers from across Russia — Mikhail Molchanov, Pyotr Pavlov, Ivan Soberg, and the popular photographic studio “Levitsky and Son”. These photographs include images of peasants and townspeople, as well as representatives of clerisy, merchant class, the Romanov dynasty, and high society.
Оn display are portraits of aristocrats — participants of the last and most famous ball of the Russian nobility, held in 1903 at the Winter Palace. The photographs, made by photographic studio “Boisson and Eggler”, depict the Imperial family and guests dressed in 17th-century costumes from the era of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The beautifully executed portraits allow viewers to take a closer look at the finest details of the costumes and jewelry.
“Journey to the East” is a large-scale exhibition project showcasing the diversity of photographic subjects captured by scientists, professional photographers, and travelers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The fascination with the unique spirit of the Eastern world, fueled by scientific expeditions and the activities of commercially successful photographic studios, played a major role in spreading travel photography across the world in the 19th century. Works from the ROSPHOTO collection unfold a broad panorama of images of the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, and the Asia-Pacific region.
The exhibition presents photographs that continued, on a new level, the traditions of the 18th-century Grand Tour, Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt, and journeys of early 19th-century Romantic artists to the East. The images feature both expressive and recognizable views of Egyptian temples, Turkish palaces, and the landscapes of the Holy Land. Photography opened up exotic vistas of China, Mongolia, Japan, the Philippine Islands, Singapore, and beyond to a wide audience.
Among the exhibits are rare photographs taken in Mongolia by Nikalai A. Charushin, works by Dmitri I. Ermakov and Felix Bonfils from Turkey, Egyptian photographs from the studios of “Zangaki Brothers” and “Antonio Beato”, images by Anton V. Seryugin, court photographer of the Persian royal dynasty, as well as Central Asian travel photographs by Grigory E. Krivtsov and prints from Alexander K. Engel’s studio in Tashkent.
The works of Russian photographers taken in Central Asia and the Caucasus from the 1870s, allow to trace the route of the Great Silk Road and the history of many cities along its path. Meanwhile, photographs from foreign studios of the 19th century expand this visual journey to encompass the broader region commonly referred to as the East. Visitors will encounter a number of outstanding masters of photography whose works, now recognized as artistic monuments of the past, invite viewers to immerse themselves in the contemplation of the rich diversity and cultural heritage of this region.
The exhibition offers an insight into the world of country life in Russian Empire — cozy family meals, light-hearted entertainment, tennis and croquet, swimming, dancing, walks by foot or by bicycle, mushroom and berry gathering, amateur theatricals, folk festivals — and, of course, photography itself. The fashionable new technology that already became accessible to the general public, was especially appealing in summer, with its abundance of light and free time.
Amateur and family photographs capture many prominent figures of the era who spent their summers at dachas near St. Petersburg: the family of architect Benois in Peterhof, socialite Yulia Lorer, artist Ivan Vladimirov, veterinarian Karl Kosse, gold industrialist Viktor Bazilevsky, Ilya Repin in Kuokkala, and academician Alexander Karpinsky in Siverskaya. Visitors will be able to see the family album of the Nabokov-Rukavishnikovs from the Rozhdestveno estate, along with many other fascinating glimpses into summer life.
The exhibition presents photographs from the late 19th to early 20th centuries from the collections of ROSPHOTO, the Peterhof State Museum Reserve, the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, the Museum Agency of the Leningrad Region, and private collections.
The exhibition explores the tradition of the family photographic archive in Russia. At the center of the exhibition are family photo albums, collections of photographs, and negatives dating from the second half of the 19th century to the mid-20th century.
The display traces the history of a family album over the course of a century, from the origins of Russian photography to the widespread enthusiasm for amateur photography during the Soviet period, and reveals how the modern approach to creating and designing family photo archives took shape.
Initially, only wealthy families could afford studio portraits, and the very act of being photographed was a major event for the entire household. By the end of the 19th century, as photographic technology developed, the number of portrait studios increased. The carte-de-visite format emerged, making photography more affordable and popular. From that moment on, small-format photographs began to fill the pages of family albums.
The exhibition presents untold stories as well as episodes from the lives of notable Russian families — photographs from the albums of Lady-in-Waiting E. P. Eyler, Count D. I. Tolstoy, the noble families Safronov and Rostovtsev, sculptor V. A. Beklemishev, merchant Nemchinov, physician G. A. Dmitrovsky, astronomer E. L. Krinov, chemist and archaeologist V. N. Kononov, and artist M. V. Dobuzhinsky. Such archives preserve the memory of generations and serve as a reflection of the spirit of their time.
The exhibition presents a unique family archive comprising more than one hundred photographs. The collection was donated to the State Museum and Exhibition Centre ROSPHOTO in 2022 and took its name after the central figure depicted in most of the photographs — Felicia Romanskaya (née Frantz).
Spanning the period from the 1860s to the 1940s, the archive includes professional studio portraits taken in photographic ateliers and amateur snapshots — open-air and interior scenes, as well as letters and documents.
Family archives are often formed spontaneously and abound in photographs without names or captions. Therefore, the process of attribution — identifying the people depicted, tracing the origins of the images, determining their place, time, and authorship, becomes a true investigation. Photographs, preserving the smallest details, contain a wealth of hidden information: clothing, insignia, and interior settings. Gradually, these fragments of the past come together to form the story of an entire family.
“The Felicia’s Archive” is a laboratory-style exhibition that invites visitors to see the images spanning three generations of one family, while exploring the methods and principles used in attributing photographic collections and family archives.
Saint Petersburg stands as the most vivid embodiment of the deeds of Peter the Great, whose 350th anniversary was widely celebrated in 2022. As a tangible result of the Tsar-Reformer’s ambitious transformations, the city became a center of progressive Russian culture and the new capital of the Russian state. Peter’s “paradise” has been praised for centuries as a city of unique and timeless beauty.
On the eve of the city’s bicentennial in 1902, the journal “Mir iskusstva” published Alexander Benois’s famous article “Picturesque Petersburg,” which was accompanied with graphic works by Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva, Evgeny Lanceray, and Iosif Braz, as well as photographic views of the “Northern Palmyra” — the city’s squares and embankments, by its editor Sergei Diaghilev
In 1903, members of the “Mir iskusstva” movement, who often turned to the image of the northern capital within their artistic works, took an active part in organizing the exhibition “Old Petersburg.” In 1907, they contributed to the creation of a museum under the same name, whose principal task was the photographic documentation of architectural monuments, especially those of the 18th century.
The photographs were taken by V. Ya. Kurbatov, N. G. Matveev, K. K. Kubesh, and P. S. Radetsky, whose images were shown at the “Exhibition of Artistic and Architectural Photography” (1911), reproduced on postcards issued by the St. Eugenia Community of the Red Cross, and featured in the well-known 1913 guidebook “Petersburg”.
The exhibition project “The City of Peter” brings together works by “Mir iskusstva” artists, book graphics, illustrated magazines, postcards, and more than 150 original photographic prints — many shown to the public for the first time.
The display is accompanied by readings of poetry dedicated to St. Petersburg by Alexander Blok, Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam, Andrei Bely, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Mikhail Kuzmin, and Nikolai Agnivtsev, performed by stage actors.
The exhibition “Scenes of nature” explores the emergence of landscape photography in Russia from the second half of the 19th to the early 20th century, through the works of such outstanding photographers from the ROSPHOTO collection such as William Carrick, Maxim Dmitriev, Evgeny Vishnyakov, Mikhail Nastyukov, Andrei Karelin, and others.
Landscape is one of the oldest and most beloved genres of photography. The inventor of the first photographic process, Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, captured the view of a Parisian Street on his early daguerreotypes made in 1839 using a camera obscura.
In Russia, William Carrick (1827–1878) was among the first to photograph the streets of St. Petersburg. His primary interest laid in portraying real “street types” — hawkers, janitors, postmen, and others. In the 1870s, he made three journeys along the Volga River. Instead of depicting its grandeur or picturesque landscapes, he chose to capture the humble scenes of poor villages: thatched huts, half-ruined watermills, narrow country lanes, and harvested fields with haystacks. This approach distinguished Carrick’s photographs from those of other masters, who sought to capture the majesty of the Volga and the beauty of the towns and villages along its banks.
The exhibition features over 100 prints created using various photographic techniques. While a multimedia installation presents rare photographic albums of Russian landscape photography from the ROSPHOTO collection.
The exhibition “Why Do We Have Two Eyes?” presents professional and amateur stereophotography dating from 1870 to 1930. The display includes both original stereoscopic images and enlarged prints.
ROSPHOTO project explores three key themes related to stereophotography: physiological aspects of vision, mass culture of the 19th century, and amateur photography.
The exhibition title repeats the slogan from a 1920s poster about stereophotography: “Why do we have two eyes?” The story of the stereoscopic image is, at the same time, a story about the anatomy of human vision — the way our eyes perceive depth and create a sense of spatial reality.
The illusion of volume produced by stereophotography evokes the sensation of presence in another space: the viewer suddenly finds himself in a distant country or at a dinner table in a stranger’s living room. This “displacement” was especially striking for audiences at the turn of the 20th century. Before the invention of cinema, when long-distance travel was available only to a privileged few, stereophotography became a major source of both fascination and knowledge about the world, gaining immense popularity.
Public enthusiasm led to the commercial success of the new technology. Mass-produced stereophotographs circulated widely, becoming the “television of the 19th century” and a phenomenon of popular culture. Simultaneously, their mass circulation shaped both the subjects and the prevailing visual canon. Thus, stereophotography gave preference to compelling images or series addressing a relevant topic. Among the photograph’s thematic collections, one can find cityscapes, staged genre scenes, erotic photographs, and, for instance, sketches of the Russo-Japanese War.
The new medium also posed creative challenges for professional photographers, who had to rethink traditional composition rules for images existing in three-dimensional space. A photograph that might seem unremarkable in print could come alive in a stereoscope, while a visually striking composition might lose its effect when viewed in such technique.
In addition, the exhibition features amateur stereophotographs. Stereoscopic cameras were generally simpler and more affordable than professional equipment, making them commonly used among amateur photographers.
Among the genres of amateur stereophotography, one can find family portraits, group photos, and everyday domestic scenes, many of which possess undeniable artistic value. Unlike mass-produced images, these amateur stereophotographs often exist as unique, one-of-a-kind prints.
Since its invention, stereophotography has experienced alternating periods of decline and revival. It is also worth noting that became a forerunner of modern three-dimensional imaging in cinema and found applications in both science and medicine.
A curatorial project by the renowned artist and photobook researcher Mikhail Karasik.
The Soviet photobook of the 1920s–1930s is a unique printed monument to the era of industrial breakthrough. The exhibition presents characteristic excerpts from photobooks, where photographic material follows a cinematic structure, unfolding according to a clear narrative plan.
Twenty books have been selected from the entire body of publications of this period. Through these masterpieces, one can trace the history of the Soviet photobook as well as the main tendencies in photography and design of the time. The exhibition is organized thematically: Prologue — Lessons of Constructivism — Industrialization — The Red Army — The Happy Country — The Land of Plenty.
The display is complemented by original prints from the ROSPHOTO collection: photographs by Max Alpert, Dmitry Debabov, Georgy Zelma, Boris Ignatovich, Boris Kudoyarov, Alexander Rodchenko, Ivan Shagin, and Arkady Shaikhet, that were frequently reproduced in photobooks. The photobook as an art form continued to evolve throughout the 20th century. With the advent of modern printing technologies, photography, and reproduction techniques in the early decades of the 20th century, the photobook gained new qualities, becoming more autonomous, social, and often protest-oriented. During this period, photobooks began to attract an engaged audience. Today, almost a hundred years later, there is a renewed need to reflect on this remarkable journey.
The exhibition project presents portraits of prominent figures in the field of arts — photographs of outstanding theatre, opera, and ballet performers, as well as playwrights and composers who made a significant contribution to Russian and world culture and scenes from renowned stage productions.
The unique collection of theatrical photography from the ROSPHOTO archives reveals the grandeur and beauty of the Russian theatre at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The second half of the 19th century can be regarded as the golden age of theatrical photography in Russia. For many years, the technical limitations of photographic equipment and insufficient stage lighting made it impossible to take photographs directly during performances. As a result, photo sessions were arranged in photographers’ studios, where artists, made up and dressed in their stage costumes, would assume static yet expressive poses that reflected their roles.
Among those who worked in such a manner were the leading masters of photography: K. I. Bergamasco, I. G. Dyagovchenko, K. A. Fischer, V. G. Chekhovsky, and others. Their works are distinguished by compositional harmony, luminous quality, and the photographers’ ability to capture the individuality of each scenic character.
The ROSPHOTO exhibition includes portraits of M. N. Yermolova, L. A. Sobinov, M. M. Petipa, F. I. Shalyapin, P. I. Tchaikovsky, and A. P. Chekhov, as well as photographs of theatrical, ballet, and opera productions such as “Eugene Onegin” and “The Queen of Spades” by P. I. Tchaikovsky, “The Tsar’s Bride” by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, and “A Life for the Tsar” by M. I. Glinka. Some of the most valuable pieces in the ROSPHOTO collection are portraits of performers, created in theatre-based photo workshops and photographic studios of St. Petersburg and Moscow.
BALLET PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE ROSPHOTO COLLECTION
Bringing together 50 works from the ROSPHOTO collection, the exhibition traces the evolution of ballet photography in St. Petersburg from the second half of the 19th to the late 20th century.
The tradition of Russian ballet photography began in St. Petersburg in the 1850s, when the Italian actor Carlo Bergamasco opened a photographic studio, whose clientele mainly included performers of the Imperial Theatres. The carte-de-visite portraits printed in Bergamasco’s studio during the 1870s–1880s depict ballerinas like Yekaterina Vazem, Maria Petipa, and Lyubov Radina, whose talent played a key role in the emergence and early development of classical Russian ballet.
At the beginning of the 20th century, classical ballet became the foundation for the development of modern dance. The radically changing appearance of dancers and the introduction of new movements by pioneering choreographers fascinated photographers. Among the featured exhibits are rare photographs of Isadora Duncan, Maria Ponna, Alexander Kaverznev, and ballerina Maria Semenova.
In the 1940s–1960s, the classical tradition of ballet photography was continued by Mikhail Gershman and Mark Paley, who worked in the photographic studio of the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre. Their brilliantly executed studio etudes portray the celebrated solo performers of the Kirov Ballet — Nina Petrova, Alexander Makarov, Tatiana Vecheslova, Natalia Dudinskaya, Konstantin Sergeyev, and Ninel Timofeeva.
A true highlight of the exhibition are the photographic series by Vladimir Zenzinov, dedicated to Leonid Yakobson’s Choreographic Miniatures Theatre (1973–1975), and a series by Rafael Mangutov, capturing the Boris Eifman Ballet Theatre in the 1980s. Both artists possessed a profound understanding of their subject and approached it with remarkable subtlety and insight.
Completing the exhibition are Alexander Kitaev’s series “Stars of Ballet,” dedicated to the prima ballerinas of the Mariinsky Theatre, and selected works by Valentin Samarin.
The exhibition presents traditional images of Christmas trees and winter landscapes from different decades, still lifes with ornaments, festive scenes, and even paradoxical interpretations of this beloved holiday.
The display brings together photographs, photo collage, family albums, and a variety of postcards — both pre-revolutionary and Soviet, mass-produced and handmade. Across this diversity of styles, genres, and textures, there remains a shared sense of celebration, resonating through the joyful greeting: “Happy New Year!”
This shared emotion, familiar to people of different countries and generations, found expression in a series of borrowings, playful imitations, and delightful variations. In pre-revolutionary Russia, one could buy photographs of elegant ladies and gentlemen, portrayed by Austrian or German masters with mock New Year gifts in hand, as well as postcards of European landscapes inscribed with festive greetings in Russian.
Early outdoor winter photographs and studio portraits set against painted winter backdrops are notable today for their solemn, celebratory atmosphere — ladies in elegant coats and their companions in heavy fur overcoats captured in moments of festive grace.
Old Russian and European New Year postcards gained historical significance after the Revolution, when the celebration of the New Year was banned until 1935. Once reinstated, the holiday acquired a new ideological form — joyful and optimistic, reflecting life in the land of socialism. The heroes of the first Soviet New Year postcards were skiers, skaters, dancing couples, and above all, happy children — the new symbol of the coming year in the USSR.
In the 1950s, Soviet artists favored collages featuring Father Frost, balloons, circus and fairy-tale characters; the 1960s brought the mysterious charm of winter landscapes; while in the 1970s, the quintessential New Year motif became a spruce branch beside a burning candle and a glass ornament, one of the most cherished symbols of the Soviet holiday.
Like a family album of black-and-white photographs, the New Year continues to unite relatives and friends. And just as a century ago, someone will surely pick up a camera and ask their loved ones to pose in front of the decorated tree — and Father Frost.
Last updated on 15.10.2025
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