Central Asia in Russian and Soviet Photography, the Second Half of the XIX Century-1930s

This Tuesday the member of the project: ‘Applied GIS in Humanities: Linguistics, History, Project Work’, Zimina Maria, presented her own research. The presentation was called “Central Asia in Russian and Soviet Photography, the Second Half of the XIX Century-1930s”.

The topic is important for studying the new parts of the empire, and the mechanisms of colonization. Photography is researched as a state project for the construction of the image of the Other. The relevance of this study lies in the fact that despite the study of how were provided the colonization of the Empire and the division of the region into national states, almost no visual materials were used, especially in the early Soviet period. After the collapse of the Russian Empire the imperial visual discourse did not disappear, it just changed and incorporated new elements. The region still appeared homogeneous in spite of the policy of the Bolsheviks on the creation of national states and autonomy within the federation, there was still a huge amount of photos depicting the influence of Islam on the local population. Central Asia is a unique case because of the role of religion in imperial and Soviet times.

 Central Asia in Russian and Soviet Photography, the Second Half of the XIX Century-1930s (PPTX, 756 Кб)

Report is prepared by  Korobeynikov Alexander.