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Russia was very active in the area of photography. We see numerous 19th century Russian photographic images. With the appearance of albumen photography (1860s), we do begin to see images. Albumen images are mostly portaits, primarily CDVs and cabinet cards. We see few Russian stereo view cards. Almost all of the portraits we have found are cabinet cards. We have not found many CDVs, unlike photography in the West where CDV were very popular, especially in the 1860s and 70s, but continued to be taken longer than in America. Russia was the largest country in Europe. Much of the population, however, was in the countryside, many were serfs or after emancipation in 1861 former serfs. The photographic record of any country is not only a function of the population (number of people), but also the income of the population, meaning how many people could aford to have a portrait taken. Almost all of the photographic record, however, is of the upper- and middle-class population of the cities, a limited segment of the popuation. The albumen images are a little different in Russia than in other countries. First of all the CDVs rapidly went out of style when cabinet cards appeared (late-1860s). The cards very commonly stated 'Cabinet Portrait' in English on the front side. Just why that was we are not sure, it was obviously a cabinet card, and why it was in English we also do not know. We think this may have been a finaical matter. It was easier to mass produce cards that just said 'Cabinet Portrait' rather than smaller numbers for individual studios. Unlike America and Western Europe, we do not see many different styles of mounts after the turn-of the 20th century. We continu to see the classic 19th century mounts into the 20th century. The colors of the mounts did change to some of the same muted colors popular in the West.
Russia was very active in the area of photography. We see various 19th century Russian photographic images, but it was not until the appearance of the Albumen Process that we see large nuumbers of images (1860s). The Atbumen process had many advanytages, onme of which was cost. The Alnumen process sharply he cost of a photographic portarait and made copies possible. The result as in other countries caused an explosion in the number of images and the creation of a large photographic record.
Albumen images are mostly portaits, primarily CDVs and cabinet cards. We see few Russian stereo view cards. Almost all of the portraits we have found are cabinet cards. We have not found many CDVs, unlike photography in the West where CDV were very popular, especially in the 1860s and 70s, but continued to be taken longer than in America. Russia was the largest country in Europe. Much of the population, however, was in the countryside, many were serfs or after emancipation in 1861 former serfs. The photographic record of any country is not only a function of the population (number of people), but also the income of the population, meaning how many people could aford to have a portrait taken. Almost all of the photographic record, however, is of the upper- and middle-class population of the cities, a limited segment of the popuation. The Albumen images are a little different in Russia than in other countries. First of all the CDVs rapidly went out of style when cabinet cards appeared (late-1860s). We see large numbers of cabinet cards. They are styled like the classic cabine cards popular in Western Eutope (1860s-90s). Unlike America and Western Europe, we do not see many Russian cabinet cards styled like the different styles of mounts after the turn-of the 20th century. In Russia we continue to see the classic 19th century mounts into the 20th century. The colors of the mounts did change to some of the same muted colors popular in the West. The 1919 cabint card here is a good example (figure 1). It is styled like the classic 19th century mounts, but it is done in one of the muted shades popular in the early-20th century.
While some Russians were acvtive in photography, but the Albumen process was largely a foreign import. We see that in the prints. Many of the cabinet cards had 'Cabinent Portrait' on the front. The cards very commonly stated 'Cabinet Portrait' in English on the front side. Just why that was we are not sure, it was obviously a cabinet card, and why it was in English we also do not know. We think this may have been a finaical matter. It was easier to mass produce cards that just said 'Cabinet Portrait' rather than smaller numbers for individual studios. And we commonly see Artiler in the front or back which is German fir studio, in this case photgraphic studio. Some of the first photographic stydios in Russian were opened by Germans. This was not a technology develooped by Germans, but Germans hekped spread commercial photography throughout Eastern Europe, including Russia.
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