Beschreibung:

Portraits of Russian military officers, monks, pilgrims and farmers. 1860s. 20 hand-colored albumen cartes-de-visite prints. Each circa 8,5 x 5,5 cm. Most with number in the negative in lower right, each mounted to original studio carte-de-visite board (slight soiling and some with light edge wear), some with photographer's name in lower edge on mount, most with photographer's logo and 3 signed by the photographer and 4 also with J. Daziaro stamp on the verso. William Carrick was a Scottish-Russian artist and photographer. Born in Edinburgh, he grew up in Kronstadt. In 1844 the family moved to St. Petersburg where he attended the Academy of the Arts and studied architecture. During a short return to Edinburgh in 1857, to gain more experience with photography, he met the photographic technician John MacGregor He then returned to Russia taking MacGregor with him to open a business. MacGregor served as his assitant and Carrick became the pioneering photographer of Russian ethnographic subjects. In 1871 Carrick and MacGregor made many rural expeditions including a month long trip to Simbirsk province. Here he gathered a large number of images depicting the lives of Russian and Mordovian peasants. Carrick photographed with great humanity and sympathy for his subjects. These images were very successful with tourists and are very rare today. – Some minimal surface rubbing, otherwise in good condition and several with strong contrasts.