An incredible record of early photography, these images of Russian peasants (“Peasant Characters from Simbirsk Province”) taken somewhere between 1860 and 1870 are an incredible window into the past, and also provide a rare glimpse of the very beginnings of street photography, which found its zenith in the work of the great Henri Cartier-Bresson.
They were taken by Edinburgh born photographer William Carrick in central Russia and he would have used a very early form of plate camera, since portable cameras of any kind hadn’t even been conceived of at this time.
You can see a further 20 photographs from the William Carrick collection over here.
Also check out this awesome picture of William Carrick at his St Petersburg studio here.
