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policy—is, alas, unknown. He submitted work for the
SFP’s biennial exhibition in 1874, reporting Trebizond,
on the Turkish coast of the Black Sea, as his address.
That could mean that he had opened a branch or sec-
ond studio there, because he had already photographed
considerably in that region. All the pictures that he sent
to the Exhibition in Paris—17 in total—were made in
that area. According to the catalogue they were prints
from wet collodion plates. For the rest, this was the
only time he submitted work for the SFP exhibitions in
Paris. A couple of years later, in 1878, the took part in
the Anthropological Exhibition in Moscow, where he
received an honorable mention. He would also receive
distinctions at photography exhibitions in Turkey, Persia
and Italy.
In the years 1877 and 1878 Ermakov received an
exceptional commission: he was added to the General
Staff of the Caucasian Army, in the Field Photography
Section, to record military movements in the Russo-
Turkish war. None of the photographs he produced for
this have been located.
During his working life Ermakov must have tra-
versed huge distances. If we look at the photographs
in the albums in his collection, it would appear that he
had a great interest in geography and ethnography in
the whole of Eurasia. In addition to Georgia itself, he
traveled through Turkey and Persia, to Kazakstan and
Uzbekistan to visit the ancient cities of Bukhara and
Samarkand, through the southern Russian republics of
Dagestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Cherkessia, up to
Krosnodarskij and through the Crimea, to the north of
Georgia. Apparently here he was himself at work with
one or more assistants. It is also possible that he sent his
co-workers to these various places. Perhaps some of the
photographic material in the albums also comes from
other photographers, from whom he purchased negative
plates. The result was an enormous photographic oeuvre
which can be termed extensive and multifaceted. He
records the inhospitable, snow-capped mountain ranges
of Svaneti, the oil fi elds in Baku and the construction
of drilling rigs, the 1905 pogrom in Baku, the architec-
ture, churches and monuments in all these regions, art
reproductions and extensive surveys of the peoples from
these areas in long series and detailed reportages. All
these series and still many more other subjects are to
be found in Ermakov’s 126 sales albums. They contain
an almost incalculable treasury of information about a
number of regions and peoples in the Caucasus, Turkey,
Russia, Persia and the surrounding area.
These trips were no simple undertaking. The pho-
tographer worked with large glass plates (often handled
wet), employed cameras of various formats, and always
had to have his chemicals and darkroom near at hand.
Ermakov in fact worked with glass plates of up to 50× 60 cm. In the 19th century photography had not yet
mastered enlargement. All prints were produced in the
same dimensions as the negative plate; Ermakov thus
must have used a mammoth camera. This also means
that for his work he must have had a sort of caravan
with him in order to carry all his apparatus, as well as a
mobile darkroom. It is reported that Ermakov himself
specially designed such a mobile laboratory. To have
carried out all the work of his that has been located, that
was certainly no unnecessary luxury. He returned from
an expedition to the mountains of Svaneti in 1910 with
as many as 1500 negatives. It is obvious that Ermakov
also did business elsewhere for periods of time, or had
multiple branches, as in Trebizond, mentioned earlier,
but certainly also in Teheran, where he received the
title of Court Photographer to the Shah of Persia. Pho-
tographs by Ermakov are to be found at the University
of Teheran.
Ermakov ultimately operated a large photographic
business over the remarkably long time span of about 45
years. Over this period he must have produced at least
25,000 negatives: that is, after all, the number that have
been found in his estate. His interests, however, also ran
well beyond photography. He was an honorary member
of the Caucasian Section of the Moscow Archaeological
Society and the Association for the Advancement of the
Visual Arts, and he was given the freedom of the city of
Tbilisi. It is not known precisely when Ermakov died; it
must have been around 1916/1918. His extensive estate
was sold to the University of Tbilisi by his widow and
in 1930 eventually handed over to the Simon Janashia
State Museum in Tbilisi.
Hans de HerderBiography
Dmitri Ermakov was born between 1846 and 1848 in
Tbilisi (then called Tifl is) Georgia. After his initial edu-
cation in his hometown he joint the Military Academy in
Ananuri, an old town and fortifi cation along the Geor-
gian Military Highway. This route is one of the eldest
pass ways through the Caucasus mountains and connects
Tbilisi with Vladikavkaz, capital of North Ossetia. After
serving as a military photographer he established his
own fi rm in downtown Tbilisi. He traveled extensively
through the Eurasian continent and he was the Persian
court photographer for a number of years. Back in
Tbilisi he educated and later collaborated with Antoin
Sevruguin who became a known Persian (although not
from Persian descent) photographer. Little is further
known at this moment about Ermakov’s whereabouts.
The estate is researched and conserved for the future
since 2000 and will be presented to Unesco to be listed
on the World Memory List expected in 2007.ERMAKOV, DMITRI
Hannavy_RT72353_C005.indd 495 7/5/2007 11:18:24 AM