Today, we visit the Library of Congress’ web site, which miraculously rescued these amazing color photos of Russia dating as far back as 1909! We bought them in 1948, thus saving them from Communist exploitation and/or neglect…and I won’t even mention what the Islamofascists would do with stuff like this. The photos were taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, who worked at the commission of Tsar Nicholas II to photograph the diversity of Russia: population, topography, culture, you name it.
The method he used was way different than what you might think. It did not involve color film, but rather, color filters: red, green, and blue. After some slight cropping and digital touchup, the photos are absolutely breathtaking. And Mr. Prokudin-Gorskii himself posed in one of the photos, so at least we know who he is.
What a pioneer!

HAT TIP: Right Wing Howler