Title

General view of the Shakh-i Zindeh mosque (evening photo), Samarkand, between 1905 and 1915. Creator: Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky.

Caption

General view of the Shakh-i Zindeh mosque, Samarkand, between 1905 and 1915. The Pamir Mountains provide a dramatic backdrop for an evening view of the Shakh-i Zindeh Mosque in Samarkand, a complex of graves and mortuary chapels built over many centuries for the women of the dynasties descended from Timur (Tamerlane, 1336-1405), the great medieval ruler of Central Asia. Russian chemist and photographer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky (1863-1944) was a pioneer in colour photography which he used to document early 20th-century Russia and her empire, including the vanishing way of life of tribal peoples along the Silk Route in Central Asia. In a railway-carriage darkroom provided by Czar Nicholas II, Prokudin-Gorsky used the three-colour photography process to record traditional costumes and occupations, churches and mosques - many now Unesco World Heritage sites - as well as modernisation in agriculture, industry and transport.

Credit line

Photo12/Heritage Images/Heritage Art

Reference

HRM24A05_434

Model release

NA

Property release

NA

License type

Rights managed

Available size

61,0Mb (2,9Mb) / 16,5in x 14,3in / 4960 x 4297 (300dpi)

Keywords

travel exterior outdoors building buildings library Asia religious architecture mosque light mountain mountains religion evening geography color death dome domes tomb Islam Islamic mausoleum location century burial concept time of day tourist attraction Library of Congress Colour Uzbekistan Central Asia 1900s 1910s 20th century Central Asian Samarkand tourism geographical feature necropolis TGN outside photograph Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky Prokudin-Gorsky Sergey Mikhaylovich Shah-i Zindeh domed Congressional Library Shah-i-Zinda Shah-Zindeh Heritage Art Glass negatives still image La soiree Color separation negatives Meeting of Frontiers Prokudin-Gorsky Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky Sergey