[Studio Portrait: Russian Baloon Seller]

William Carrick British, Scottish

Not on view

This group of Russian “types” or portraits of small tradespersons in the 1860s–70s are by or attributed to William Carrick, the most esteemed documentarian of St. Petersburg in the photographic era. Born in Edinburgh, Carrick was raised in Kronstadt, the port of Saint Petersburg, Russia, where his family operated a successful timber business. In 1859, he opened a photographic studiTo in Saint Petersburg, specializing in portraiture. Between commissions, he made portraits of the merchants and artisans – mail carriers, mushroom gatherers, egg sellers, and woodcutters – who walked the city's main thoroughfare, the Nevsky Prospect, selling their goods and services. Carrick's “Russian Types” were intended principally for the tourist market and belong to a well established tradition of depictions of “petits métiers” or “Cries” – street vendors who announced their wares with shouts and calls.

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