Comments on: Colors of the Past

Colors of the Past

buriednexttoyou — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:28:17 -0800

Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii took three b&w photos of his subjects using red, green, and blue filters. Now, they've been digitally composited, and we have stunning, authentic color photographs of Russia in the early 1900's.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:32:28 -0800

This is awesome. (Check out the couple of fidgity girls in the 'photographs' link.)

By: allaboutgeorge

allaboutgeorge — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:32:31 -0800

I thought history took place in black and white.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:36:35 -0800

Incidentally, I had just a few days ago seen a few of these pictures in the wikipedia entry on Samarkand and I have been wondering about the colors in them.

By: sharksandwich

sharksandwich — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:38:53 -0800

Damn those shifty Commies.

By: DV8 2XL

DV8 2XL — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:39:30 -0800

Stunning, great find buriednexttoyou.

By: keswick

keswick — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:45:11 -0800

This was great the last five times it was posted here, too.

By: trbrts

trbrts — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:45:50 -0800

These are awesome. What foresight on Sergei's part.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:46:08 -0800

Earlier MeFi post. Other MeFi posts on early color photography in Russia here and here. Note to posters: please reset Search from "in last year" to "from Day One." Otherwise you're going to double-post from here to eternity. On preview: keswick, if you're going to snark, at least do the legwork.

By: keswick

keswick — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:47:14 -0800

i prefer that people take my word as the gospel truth.

By: buriednexttoyou

buriednexttoyou — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:49:08 -0800

Damn and blast. I = n00b. Sorry, you guys.

By: ori

ori — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:55:42 -0800

doublepost or not, i missed this first time around, and it's rather stunning.

By: Malor

Malor — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:57:58 -0800

I missed it too.... the occasional repost is acceptable when it's of such high quality. Thanks for taking the time to put it up, buried. :-)

By: Bugbread

Bugbread — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:03:35 -0800

You = n00b with great tastes in links, though. If your next FPP is a non-dupe of the same quality as this one, I will be hinging on your very post.

By: coelecanth

coelecanth — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:05:22 -0800

What Malor said.

By: buriednexttoyou

buriednexttoyou — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:08:35 -0800

Thanks, guys. I will do my best to learn the ways of the filter and repent for my DP.

By: davy

davy — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:12:38 -0800

Earlier MeFi post. Yeah: http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/7504 -- to a post from May 7th, 2001. Three and a half YEARS ago. How impressively pedantic of you, languagehat! Other MeFi posts on early color photography in Russia here and here. And a link to a post from Jan. 22, 2004, and then one from Jan. 16th, 2004. Two doubleposts in four days-- I presume you did your snarky duty then too, right? Note to posters: please reset Search from "in last year" to "from Day One." Otherwise you're going to double-post from here to eternity. Note to posters: please ignore that. Twice in four days is a bit repetitious, but twice in 3.5 YEARS counts as "a refresher". Besides, I really dig this post. And I don't think many people who have not been reading MetaFilter "from day one" would think of searching the MetaFilter archives for this subject if they were interested in READING about it. It simply would not have occurred to me before that many Mefites are interested in "Art History"; I'd probably have pointed Google at university sites instead. So I also thank you, buriednexttoyou, for a damn good post. On preview: keswick, if you're going to snark, at least do the legwork. Note to languagehat: /me ::ROLLS EYES:: . On preview, 'Agreed' to what bugbread just said.

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:19:32 -0800

Kids, don't make me come down there.

By: darkmatter

darkmatter — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:25:19 -0800

Dude. You do know you're married to Ross Perot don't you?

By: semmi

semmi — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:37:06 -0800

What davy said!

By: juiceCake

juiceCake — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:39:34 -0800

Interesting how years later (approx. 1985) those of us with Amigas and Newtek's Digiview were using a similar technique. Fascinating how much work one had to do. Interestingly enough, at least to yours truly, this site was the one and only site I've ever felt I might make an FPP about. With that in mind I discovered that it had been done before so I didn't bother. Perhaps if that bloke with the righteousness of Seth and the varacity of 111 was around then. Perhaps... Of course friendly call outs to double posts are done with frequency and are usually welcome. languagehat is is no way pedantic davy. I suppose you've never seen friendly reminders like that in comments before. First time for everything.

By: ciderwoman

ciderwoman — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:49:36 -0800

Well I missed it first time around, but I'm very, very pleased for the double post. Stunning pictures, a great example of what the web does well. Thanks for the find buriednexttoyou (though I think you should watch people who write songs about dead people).

By: ZippityBuddha

ZippityBuddha — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:49:40 -0800

Davy, you really are a fuckwit. Great post, though, buriednexttoyou, double or no.

By: mstefan

mstefan — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:59:02 -0800

Davy is right on the money. By Zippity's measure, I guess there's not nearly enough fuckwits on MeFi. God, that's an opening big enough to drive a truck through, no?

By: naxosaxur

naxosaxur — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 17:00:43 -0800

davy, your incomplete sentences and spastic formatting have me confused, but garnering the gist of your ramblings, you have severely misjudged languagehat. I had also missed this link the first few times around, but does anyone search the fucking archives before posting anymore?

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 17:02:20 -0800

> those of us with Amigas Prokudin-Gorskii: The great-grandfather of bitplaning?

By: keswick

keswick — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 17:03:19 -0800

hay guys did u hear about this??!?111!1 ROFL!!1!11!

By: NorthernLite

NorthernLite — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 17:36:00 -0800

Gawd, when am I gonna learn not to read the MeFi comments after I've been particularly blown away by something in a post. Thank you, PostingPolice and other irrelevant followups, for the spoilsport party. buried, I hadn't seen this amazing stuff before. It combines several of my great interests, including historical photography and Russia. But there's something jarring about looking at these pictures. My brain tells me the images should be B &W, and can't quite accept they're not yesterday's snapshots. While looking at old photos it's often eerie to me to think how all those people who look so alive are really long gone from life. Seeing these in color makes that feeling even greater. Just beautiful images. (Oh, and it motivated me to look around the LOC site a bit. Man, some good exhibitions currently on view too.)

By: effwerd

effwerd — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 17:53:10 -0800

Yeah, double-post notwithstanding, great post!

By: davy

davy — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 17:59:12 -0800

davy, your incomplete sentences and spastic formatting have me confused, but garnering the gist of your ramblings, Now see, that intrigues me: I think I strain really hard to be intelligible, and then I see things about "incomplete sentences" and "spelling and syntax." (Syntax maybe, but spelling? Me?) If you're interested in telling me what you're talking about and in a helpful spirit helping me make my writing even more intelligible, start a thread in MetaTalk. >you have severely misjudged languagehat. Tit for tat. "He started it!" Besides, remember the catchphrase sometimes found in the logo: "You're wrong!" "No, you're wrong!" And I think I dimly recall something from some GeroFite's "guidelines" about one should expect everyone to be always wrong. Why should languagehat and me be exceptions? Still, in case it'd help: /me ::HUGS:: languagehat and offers a {{big kiss}} to make it all better.

By: ciderwoman

ciderwoman — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 18:22:44 -0800

"but does anyone search the fucking archives before posting anymore?" just a point, and not aimed at anyone in this thread, but the search function is fallible. I've double posted twice this year, and both times I've searched with a variety of keywords before posting and come up with nothing. It happens, but I hope we don't reach the day when people are scared to post just in case it's been done before. I'd rather ignore a double post than miss something like this.

By: monju_bosatsu

monju_bosatsu — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 18:22:54 -0800

Can we stop with the irc-speak?

By: abiku

abiku — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 18:31:57 -0800

"My brain tells me the images should be B &W, and can't quite accept they're not yesterday's snapshots." I had the exact same problem, NorthernLite. In B&W, they're stunning photos, but there's something that just feels...off...when seeing them in color. Doesn't make them any less stunning, of course, and they're very beautiful (especially this one), but it's still a curious effect.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 18:33:16 -0800

Davy, you need to let it go. Not every extraneous, inappropriate snark requires rebuttal.

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 18:39:51 -0800

I remember thinking this the last time around, although I couldn't post yet: Sites like this remind me that people could see in colors more than fifty years ago. When I see something in color that "should" be in black & white, it makes the historical world seem so much more tangible.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 18:39:57 -0800

To everyone who thinks there's something wrong with mentioning a double post: double posts are not allowed around here. It's customary to mention the fact when a post turns out to be a double; this can be done relatively pleasantly (as I did here) or snarkily (as keswick did), but it's going to be done, so you might as well get used to it. It's just childish to whine "But I didn't see it!" This is not your personal site, it's a community site, and these are the rules, like it or not. The poster understands this; why don't you? And as naxosaxur points out, there are a fuck of a lot of double posts these days, and it's not all due to the fallible search function. We all had to learn how to do it right; you should be observing and learning, not bitching and moaning.

By: keswick

keswick — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 18:56:19 -0800

Can we stop with the irc-speak? I blame the influx of MoFites.

By: caddis

caddis — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 19:03:47 -0800

Tit for tat. "He started it!" Shees! Who let the five year olds in?

By: naxosaxur

naxosaxur — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 19:12:26 -0800

>>/me ::HUGS:: languagehat and offers a {{big kiss}} to make it all better. No further discussion is necessary when dealing with people who speak like 12-year old girls hanging out in the local strip-mall.

By: naxosaxur

naxosaxur — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 19:45:41 -0800

Metatalked bitches. Tough love.

By: Malor

Malor — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 00:49:20 -0800

Fer chrissake, it's been 3.5 YEARS. Anything over a couple years is OKAY to repost, particularly when it's extremely cool. Just because you happened to be around three years ago and saw a headline is absolutely no reason that it should NEVER AGAIN be posted here. I'm sure as heck not going to be reading through the archives unless I'm looking for a very specific thing, and it's not bloody likely that I'd have thought to search for early Russian color photography. Complaining about dupes this old is elitism, pure and simple. "Look, look how far back *I* can remember! I'm obviously BETTER than you newbies. Go away, you're not wanted here." buried, AFAIK, anything over two years old is fair game, if it's something of this caliber.

By: caddis

caddis — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 06:01:01 -0800

You are being too sensitive Malor. It is not just new members who are double posting with abandon. If you have posted here for any length of time you have probably double posted. So if you get called out on it don't be surprised, or angry, or defensive (actually buriednexttoyou was quite the gentleman over this, not so some others). If I can find it in the archives I don't want to see it on the front page again unless something is added or the link has been updated in some significant way. Old is still old. When MeFi hits a slow spot the archives can serve-up some interesting stuff you may have forgotten.

By: exhilaration

exhilaration — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 08:59:02 -0800

Why do so many people photographed have medals? What does that mean?

By: Faze

Faze — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 09:24:33 -0800

I've enjoyed these the past million times they've been posted, and also in the book "Photographs for the Tsar," published in the 1980s, in which they made their first modern appearance. (You should buy it if you want hard copies to enjoy in your easy chair.) But here's what makes me sorry: Prokudin-Gorskii mainly took pictures of people and things that seemed unusual and exotic -- which, for a bourgeois of his era, were the timeless cities of the outlying provinces and their colorfully garbed natives. What I want with a passionate longing, are color pictures of the rooms and clothes and faces and cities of the ordinary people of Prokudin-Gorskii's class. I want color pictures of the scenes and characters out of Chekov and Tolstoy -- not some bozo in a turban. A turban then is a turban now.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 10:18:26 -0800

If you have posted here for any length of time you have probably double posted. Amen. I've done it myself. And when it was pointed out, I was embarrassed but grateful. Having a DP called out is not a personal attack; it's a public service. And if you happen not to have seen the link before, be grateful you got the chance before the DP got deleted, but don't bitch and moan about the callout. The world is full of many wonderful things, and so is MeFi; if you're eager to see them, browse the archives. What I want with a passionate longing, are color pictures of the rooms and clothes and faces and cities of the ordinary people of Prokudin-Gorskii's class. Yeah, that would be great, though I'm glad for the turbans as well.

By: davy

davy — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 10:35:44 -0800

Not every extraneous, inappropriate snark requires rebuttal. Of course not, CD. Not even all those directed at me. But still, it's kinda like naxohat gets with doubleposts: if you let 'em think they can get away with it they'll run totally wild. So I figure if I pop off at the few that catch my eye it'll keep 'em dancing, kinda like cops with speeders. That's one lesson I've re-learned from my brief experience with this MetaCommunity: if we don't teach evildoers to be Kind and Considerate just like US by stomping them every chance we get, preferably en masse, before you know it they start acting like they're not afraid of us -- and then where would we be? It's a powerful feeling to convince yourself you're better than somebody else (or even to appear to do so in public so the In Crowd will accept you); and that feeling is enhanced, rather than diluted as one might expect, by being shared with the biggest fraction around. But they're not going to kowtow to us just because we're so Nice, are they? It also helps to have an Authority to appeal to and Rules to cite, so nobody can accuse you of putting your own judgment above "the common run". It's so much safer to just follow along. And anyway, thinking for yourself is often too much trouble even when there is no risk in doing so. But I'm digressing again, aren't I.

By: apocalypse miaow

apocalypse miaow — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 11:03:57 -0800

"But I'm digressing again, aren't I." ::passes davy a '?' to place at the end of that sentence, then runs away to hide behind naxohat...::

By: Sharktattoo

Sharktattoo — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 11:51:30 -0800

Beautiful pictures...just beautiful.

By: Keyser Soze

Keyser Soze — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 13:28:41 -0800

More like early 1990s! zinger!

By: squirrel

squirrel — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 19:12:25 -0800

Those are rad. Thanks!