One of the most striking aspects of his work is the diversity it reveals. The Russian Empire encompassed dozens of ethnic groups, languages, and traditions, and Prokudin-Gorsky approached each with respect and curiosity. His portraits show individuals—from peasants to monks to factory workers—portrayed with dignity and individuality. These photographs offer an invaluable record of cultures that, in many cases, would undergo profound transformation or displacement in the years following the Russian Revolution and the tumultuous twentieth century.
