978
NASTYUKOV, MIKCHAIL PETROVICH
(active 1860s–1880s)
Professional photographer
Mikchail Petrovich Nastyukov had his own studio in
Moscow since 1862, and from 1869, he worked in the
Nizshni Novgorod fair. His studio photo-portraits were
always performed on a high technical and artistic level.
Sometimes they were cartes-de-visite, and sometimes
when rather large they were framed and served as a
decoration. His studio was quite popular among the
people of various social statuses and wealth. Nastyukov
photographed painters, writers, actors, and others, and
is proved by the considerable number of photographic
portraits in existence. Unfortunately we know nothing
about his private life, his friends or his environment. It
is only known that in the 1860s he was under the pa-
tronage of His Highness Crown Prince Alexander (the
future czar Alexander III). In 1869 Nastyukov created
a group portrait depicting Prince Alexander with his
wife and his retinue
The most outstanding of his works was the series of
photographs of Volga towns. The series was in 1866–67
and then comprised an album under the title “Views of
Volga from Tver’ to Kazan’.” The photographs glued
upon passe-partouts were made by contact method from
negatives sized 30–40 cm. It was one of the fi rst impor-
tant photographic series showing Volga’s area.
Nastyukov was one of the fi rst photographers to work
outdoors on a large scale. This outdoor work was natu-
rally hindered by considerable technical problems due
to the fact that photographers of the time had only wet-
collodion method at their disposal. The cumbersome
camera, low sensitivity of photo-plate—all these limited
the choice of scenes for photography. But the primary
objective of any photographer was to break away from
the concepts of painting forced upon the artistic value
of photographs. For quite a long time photography had
been viewed only as an auxiliary means for painting
with the main function of recording reality.
Nastyukov made photographs of the monuments of
architecture paying special attention to orthodox cathe-
drals—and they looked grand in his photographs. He was
one of the fi rst to start taking photographic chronicles of
the Russian architectural monuments. This theme later
attracted the attention of the Russian photographers.
Nastyukov was in constant search of new images and
objects, which is how he started making photographs
of peasants from the neighbouring villages.
In the second half of the 19th century, the lives of
peasants (with serfdom abolished only in 1861) was a
burning issue, which found its refl ection in the demo-
cratic art. The photographer combined architectural
images with images of common people and their life.
However technical problems prevented him from ren-
dering life the way he wanted. So that his photographs
would remain descriptive he built their composition
through the use of the laws of painting.
In 1867, Nastyukov worked in Simbirsk, the town
that attracted another outstanding photographer work-
ing in Russia, the Scots-born William Carrick, known
in Russia as Vasiliy Andreevich Carrick.
In 1869, having accumulated enough experience
in outdoor photography, Nastyukov accompanied the
Great Prince Alexander Alexandrovich and his wife
in their trip throughout Russia. This trip included a
visit to the fair in Nizshni Novgorod and Nastyukov
accompanied them as their photographer. For these
photographs Nastyukov was awarded a bronze medal at
All-Russia Polytechnic exhibition in Moscow in 1872.NASTYUKOV, MIKCHAIL PETROVICH
Nastyukov, Mikchail
Petrovich. The Church in
Yaroslavl 1867.
Private Collection: Alexei
Loginov.