This 1910 photograph is the “View of Kasli” by photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii. Kasli, now in present day Chelyabinsk Oblast. I find this picture fascinating as it’s description pointed out the predominate points of the image, and the town, to be the massive churches (two on the left in the background, and in looking at the shadow in the foreground, it can be assumed the photographer was in another large church taking this photograph. This shows the predominance and focus on Eastern Orthodoxy Christianity, and the strength of the Church. Especially in comparison with the majority of the town, which primarily composed of wood houses with small farm plots, and an iron foundry. I believe this picture vividly illustrates a divide in social classes in prerevolutionary Russia, classes of workers living in small close quarters, while being shadowed by the power of organized Christianity
On a more artistic note, I found the colors in this photograph to be extremely well done, especially the blue of the lake on the right, and the red metal roofing.
Source: The World Digital Library. “View of Kasli.” https://www.wdl.org/en/item/5248/#q=Prokudin-Gorskii+kasli&qla=en accessed January 20, 2017.
