photos of Russian empire & Simon Raskin

[J.W.]

Ottawa (Canada), Monday 24/5/04 22h50 EDT

Dear SEELANGers,

I have been following with considerable interest the postings on S.M.
Prokudin-Gorskij, especially since one of my prized possessions is a
book of his colour photographs presented to me by a Russian friend about
20 years ago.  I believe this may be the subject of enquiry in several
postings today (which I have just now received in digest format).

The book is entitled "Photographs for the Tsar -- the pioneering color
photography of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, commissioned by
Tsar Nicholas II".  It is edited, with an introduction by Robert H.
Allshouse and an Afterword (explaining the colour process) by Arthur
Goldsmith; published in New York by The Dial Press in 1980.  Publisher's
address:  1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY USA 10017.  ISBN:
0-8037-6996-2.  It is a coffee-table format book with 216 glossy pages,
with a multitude of beautiful (mostly colour & a few black-and-white)
photographs taken by Prokudin-Gorskij.  I was always impressed at how
superior the colour photography was to the early colour reproductions we
are all familiar with from the mid-20th century.  The book includes his
famous Tolstoy colour photo (p. 33) -- the one that appeared so often in
Soviet publications but seldom credited to its author.

I do appreciate knowing of the two significant websites contributed by
other SEELANGers -- the American 'Library of Congress' exhibit and the
site featuring the entire collection of Prokudin-Gorskij's Russian land
photos.

On a related point, I wonder if anyone knows the recent or current
activities of Simon Raskin, former personal photographer to Brezhnev.
He emigrated to Canada in the 1970s and brought with him quite a number
of his photos (note: nearly all black-&-white -- this was in the
post-colour, post-Prokudin-Gorskij age!) of Brezhnev and other Soviet
leaders, in their formal and often quite informal moments.   Shortly
after Raskin's arrival in Canada I had the occasion to serve as his
interpreter during an interview on CTV's nation-wide morning programme
"Canada A.M." with Norm Perry, taped in their Toronto studios.  But I
have heard little about him since that time.

Happy Victoria Day (24 May), Commonwealthers!

J. Woodsworth, Research Associate
Slavic Research Group at the University of Ottawa

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