Four Cows for a Photograph

The art of photography was not uncommon in Vinnytsia. Seven photography studios had a firm foothold in the local market, while less professional photographers worked the nearby villages. This principle has not changed to the present day, except that today’s photographers do not sign their works. In the mid-19th century a photo portrait without a signature meant that its creator either had a screw loose or was in trouble.

On the whole, photographers were not poor in those days and could afford to travel from Bratslav to Paris for an exhibit and leave with a Grand Prix. International leaders would converge on such artistic conventions, giving away diplomas and other distinguished awards. Emperors enjoyed posing for photographs, establishing museums, and collecting paintings. Volodymyr Koziuk, the owner of this collection and a native of Vinnytsia, says that for some reason it is difficult today to lure oblast officials to such events.

In the past, a photographer’s status was determined not only by his signature on the photograph, but also by his affiliation with a royal court. The exhibit features a photograph taken by the Persian shah’s photographer, S. Klimoszewski, who signed the photo and added his telephone number — 195. Besides works by famous masters, Volodymyr Koziuk has also collected town panoramas, portraits of officials and officers, and photographs of public events. The collection features a 1910 photo of Mykola Leontovych directing a choir in a park on the 50th anniversary of the local archpriest Dunachevsky. Another gem in the collection is a group of photos of the Nikolai II Railway Regiment and vignettes of military guardsmen in Warsaw.

Photographs of people posing next to new-fangled technical wonders were as popular then as photos with monkeys are popular in villages today: a woman in a fur coat, two young men sharing a bottle — there’s nothing vulgar about these photographs. Photography was a lengthy procedure, not the five-minute diversion for necessity’s sake that it is today. It took people several days to prepare for a visit to a photography studio and select garments. Then they would spend several hours conversing with the photographer. Early photographs sometimes cost as much as four cows.

Volodymyr Koziuk says that this exhibit is a major event for Vinnytsia, but admits that Kyiv collectors have far richer collections of old photos than him.