About the Prokudin-Gorskii Collection

The Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Collection features color photographic surveys of the vast Russian Empire made between ca. 1905 and 1915. Frequent subjects among the 2,607 distinct images include people, religious architecture, historic sites, industry and agriculture, public works construction, scenes along water and railway transportation routes, and views of villages and cities. An active photographer and scientist, Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) undertook most of his ambitious color documentary project from 1909 to 1915. The Library of Congress purchased the collection from the photographer's sons in 1948.

The online collection presents Prokudin-Gorskii's vision and legacy in several image formats:

• Glass negatives: 1,902 b&w triple-frame images made with color separation filters
• Sepia-tone prints: 705 photos for which no glass negatives exist (reproduced from Prokudin-Gorskii's albums)
• Album pages showing all 2,433 sepia-tone prints and captions
• Modern color composites: 1,902 digital images made from the glass negatives in 2004
• Modern color renderings: 122 digital files made from the glass negatives in 2000-2001.

Information about obtaining copies is available through the "How to Order" link near the top of each catalog record.