Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan through the eyes of the discoverer of color photography in tsarist Russia - Part 2

Elvira Kadyrova

In early 1911, Prokudin-Gorsky went to the Transcaspian region, which included the territory of modern Turkmenistan at that time. Besides visits to Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, the photographer toured the Merv District (modern Mary province), Chardjew(present-day Turkmenabat), Farab.

In Merv district, most of the filming was done in Bayram Ali and its surroundings. The center of the Murgab imperial estate was headquartered in Bayram Ali. Here is an article from the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (St. Petersburg, 1890-1907):

Murgab imperial estate

On His Highness’s order dated of 6 Aug. 1887 Murgab imperial estate was established in Merv oasis on all the wasted lands along the Murgab river, on which, after the construction of the dam, known as the Sultanbent, it will be possible to extend irrigation without damage to other parts of the oasis, already irrigated by the waters of this river.Murgab imperial estateis located in the South-Eastern part of the Merv oasis, in the area that once irrigated by the Old Merv’sirrigation network. Sultanbent dam, located 65 versts to the south of the station Bayram Ali, was already almost finished, but was destructed by the weirs in the fall of 1890. In 1895, the construction of new dams downstream from the Sultanbentwas completed and the installation of irrigation system started. The area of the estate is about 80,000 des (1dessiatina =approx. 2 3/4 acres). Hopes for irrigation, through the resumption of the dam, had been faileddue to lack of water in Murgab. Management center of Murgab estate was located near the station of BayramAli. There are small experimental crops, tree nurseries, etc. It is plannedto cultivate almonds, high varieties of plums, grapes, etc.

In 1911,Prokudin-Gorsky made his first color movie in Turkestan (Samarkand, Bukhara, Merv), where he spent February-March. Together with another Russian scientist-inventor SergeyMaksimovich, Prokudin-Gorskydesignedmovie camera, similar to the technology of color film “Kinemacolor” invented by the George Albert Smith.

Shooting his first color film, Sergey Mikhailovich simultaneously tested his camera. True, he was dissatisfied with the products of the shooting. However, the quality of his film about Turkestan was not inferior to the color film shot by the British photographers about India.

Prokudin-Gorsky’s film was shown on 24 January 1912 in the Solyanoytown, where the Imperial Russian Technical Society was based.

The Interdepartmental Commission of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire (the supreme executive body) recognized in conclusion report that “movie making in Turkestan was successful. Prokudin- Gorsky’s methods produced “ethnographic pictures of groups of inhabitants who were in motion, for example: markets, national celebrations.[…] It was possible to get such pictures only with instantaneous exposures, for which it was necessary to design and build a special new photographic apparatus, tested for the first time by S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky in the fall of this year, 1911, during travels in Turkestan.” /// nCa, 12 March 2019

Here is a collection by Prokudin-Gorsky, shot in 1911 in the Merv district.