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Czarist Russia in color (1905–1915)

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Re: Czarist Russia in color (1905–1915)

#11

Post by dasil003 »

vladnyc wrote: post #9
spacefight wrote: post #3

Notice how hardly anyone is smiling at that thing named a camera obscura.

I think its because they had to sit still for a long time while the photograph is taken.

I think it's because it's not natural to smile at a machine. Someone had to first notice that pictures would look better if people smiled, and then start telling everyone to smile until eventually the act of posing for a photograph entered the cultural consciousness.

Re: Czarist Russia in color (1905–1915)

#16

Post by golergka »

lmm wrote: post #8
balabaster wrote: post #5

What's most awesome about these pictures, is that looking many of them, you could easily imagine they were taken today. It's astonishing that the picture of modern life we see all around us, we build up this idea in our heads that we've come so far in the past hundred or so years, but in reality, much of the world - even in the West, hasn't come that far at all.

I wouldn't say that. The clothes look uncomfortable, there are mud tracks rather than road, the whole city is two- or even one-story buildings (which implies you'd be living without any subcultural clubs in walking distance - hope you enjoy the same things everyone else does). Even the melons the guy is selling are clearly in much worse condition than modern supermarket produce. And look at how many people it takes j…

I live in Russia, and rural towns look pretty much as you just described. Of course, there's a lot of broken asphalt on the roads, and houses don't look as good as in the photos.

Re: Czarist Russia in color (1905–1915)

#18

Post by koberstein »

lmm wrote: post #8
balabaster wrote: post #5

What's most awesome about these pictures, is that looking many of them, you could easily imagine they were taken today. It's astonishing that the picture of modern life we see all around us, we build up this idea in our heads that we've come so far in the past hundred or so years, but in reality, much of the world - even in the West, hasn't come that far at all.

I wouldn't say that. The clothes look uncomfortable, there are mud tracks rather than road, the whole city is two- or even one-story buildings (which implies you'd be living without any subcultural clubs in walking distance - hope you enjoy the same things everyone else does). Even the melons the guy is selling are clearly in much worse condition than modern supermarket produce. And look at how many people it takes j…

Yeah I don't know how people managed to live happy lives with all those mud tracks and sub-par melons.

Re: Czarist Russia in color (1905–1915)

#19

Post by bellerocky »

Russia's Tzars really doomed Russia for the last hundred years + the future when they decided to wait a century or more too long to emancipate their serfs. Russians have never had a chance to experience freedom, just corruption and authoritarianism because their nobles couldn't do the right thing when almost everywhere else in Europe there was enlightenment among the higher classes. Russia also never had a French revolution or a Magna Carter. They had a failed Streltsy rebellion during Peter the Great and then 300 years later the Tsar just drops the mic, walks away resulting in the assassination of his entire family.
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