Bukharian Jewess. Profile. Bukharan Jews of Samarkand: expedition photographs by S.M. Dudin

A young woman wearing a dress, a silk head scarf over a petticoat and a bouquet of flowers pinned to it. Samuil Martynovich Dudin made three expeditions to Turkestan and the Bukhara Emirate to collect collections and photograph "types of the multi-tribal population of this region." An artist by education, S.M. Dudin mastered both the photography itself and its practical preparation: he was well versed in photographic equipment. For the trip, the scientist chose two cameras with large-format lenses from Derozha and Zuter, a focal-plane shutter from the English company Thornton-Picard, and he also purchased glass photographic plates from the Ilford Impress company at the expense of the museum. The very list of photographic accessories prepared for the expedition (cameras, a heavy tripod, boxes with packed glass negatives, a camping tent - a laboratory with reagents) testifies to its careful preparation. In addition to technical equipment, Samuil Martynovich prepared for the future shooting: the subject matter was thought out in advance, a list of topics and subjects was compiled. However, having encountered the difficulty of shooting live scenes and costumes in the expedition with the contrast of natural lighting (bright sun – shadow), S.M. Dudin asked the museum for permission to purchase two more Zeiss lenses: a wide-angle lens and a fast-working one “for types of groups and landscapes.”