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KARGOPOLO, BASILE
Russia. He was acquainted with scientists, musicians,
writers, and artists such as D. Mendeleev, I. Kramskoy,
I. Repin, and many more.
In 1886 Karelin issued his album “Views of Nizhny
Novgorod.” In this ablum he returned to landscape
photography. The most remarkable of them were his
panoramic views of the city and the Volga River. These
photos were done by means of a landscape objective
from the top of the highest bank of the river. The depth
of space is, as a rule, highlighted by placing something
in the foreground, the effect of which is strengthened
by an aerial perspective. The album also comprised
landscapes of city streets, monuments of architecture,
separate buildings and fragments of buildings. And again
Karelin built the composition of these photographs in
accordance to the norms and rules of academic paint-
ing. His choice of positioning is the reason why his
photographs came out so elaborately.
Karelin’s creative works were widely acknowledged
not only by specialists in photography, but also by the
intelligentsia. His works immensely infl uenced the
process of development of photography in Russia. In
1895 Karelin became a fellow member of the Russian
photography society in Moscow, and in 1896 he became
its honored member. In 1897 he was elected as a fel-
low member of the Emperor society of natural science,
anthropology and ethnography. Finally, in 1903 at an
International photography exhibition in St. Petersburg,
his last ever, he won a silver medal.
In the course of his life, Karelin never stopped
his altruistic activities. He died in 1906 in Nizhny
Novgorod. His obituary ran as follows: “He was the
fi rst to prove by all his numerous photo sketches that
art and photography are very closely connected. He
proved that the fantasy of a photo-artist, his dainty taste
in choosing the plot for his works might be realized
through photography.”
In the USSR the photo report became the main trend
of the offi cial photography, causing Karelin’s work to be
forgotten. Many contemporary photographers, including
the commercial photographers, are more often using and
developing Karelin’s methods to achieve the maximum
expression of the image by arranging the composition
and the artifi cial lighting.
Alexei Loginov
Biography
Andrey Osipovich Karelin was born on July 4, 1837, in
the village of Selezny in the Tambov region. He studied
at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts from 1857 to
- In 1869 he opened his studio in Nizhny Novgorod.
He made photo–portraits and views of the city. In 1870
together with landscape painter Shishkin he created
the album “Nizhny Novgorod.” From 1870 to 1880 he
created his “Art Album of Photos from Life” which
comprised studio genre scenes of idyllic family life. He
took part in and won prizes at numerous exhibitions. He
taught painting in Nizhny Novgorod for everyone and he
took an active part in the Artistic culture of the city. He
created a large gallery of portraits of Russian scientists,
writers, musicians, artists and public fi gures. In 1886
he issued the album “Views of Nizhny Novgorod,” and
thus returned to landscape photography. Karelin died in
1906 in Nizhny Novgorod.Further Reading
Morozov, S., Artistic Photography, M. Planeta, 1986, 416 pp.
Osipovich Karelin, Andrey, Creative Legacy, edited by A.
Semenov, M. Kchorev, and Nizhny Novgorod, Volgo-Vyat
Publishing House, 1990, 288 pp.
Russische photographie 1840–1940, Berlin, Ars Nicolai, 1993.
Russian Photograph,. The Middle of the 19th—the Beginning of
the 20th Century. Chief editor N. Rakchmanov, M. Planeta,
1996, 344 pp.
Loginov, A, Russian Pictorial Photography/ Pictorial Photogra-
phy in Russia. 1890s–1920, Art-Rodnik, 2002, 10–29.
Loginov, A. Horoshilov, The Masterpieces of the Photography
from Private Collections. Russian Photography 1849–1918.
Punctum 2003, 176 pp.KARGOPOULO, BASILE (VASILI)
(1826–1886)
Ottoman Greek photographer
Basile Kargopoulo opened his studio on Grand’ Rue
de Péra in the Ottoman capital Istanbul in 1850, and
opened a second studio in partnership with E. Foscolo
in the city of Edirne, then a major army base.
Kargopoulo was particularly renowned for his panoramas
of Istanbul, scenes of the city and the Bosphorus, and
photographs of royal palaces. He kept a large wardrobe
of costumes in his studio for young men who wanted to
dress up for their photographs. He became well known
for his series of Istanbul types, including fi shermen,
greengrocers, and street vendors, such as simit (bagel) and
sherbet sellers, sold as mounted 6 × 9 cm prints. Today
these photographs are important documents recording
life in 19th century Istanbul.
Kargopoulo was appointed royal photographer
to Sultan Abdulmecid (1823–1861, r. 1839–1861),
and was private photographer to Sultan Murad V
(1840–1904, r. 1876) When Sultan Abdülhamid
II (1842–1918 r. 1876–1909) came to the throne,
Kargopoulo’s appointment as royal photographer was
rescinded because he did not take down the photograph
of Murad V on his studio wall, but shortly later, he
was reinstated.
Engin Ozendes