Authors

Discussion

In this paper I discuss how the image of Siberia as a place of exile and suffering was challenged by the photographs taken by the revolutionaries who were sent to Siberia and made photography their new professional activity. They opened photo studios or took part in the scientific expeditions in the region, contributing to the museum collections and printed volumes about the Russian empire, its space and people. Some of them met with George Kennan during his Siberian trip and were mentioned in his famous book “Siberia and the exile system” which mainly defined the Western perception of Siberian exile and included images as well. Nikolai Charushin, a member of the Chaikovskii circle, and Alexei Kuznetsov, a member of the Nechaev group, contributed significantly to the photographic representations of Siberia, picturing the Trans-Baikal region, creating “views” and “types” which I examine in a broader context of the visual representations and images disseminated in the late Russian empire.