"I took the camera and ran everywhere."
On February 27, the State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSPHOTO (St. Petersburg) will open the exhibition "Sophia Andreyevna Tolstaya – Photographer. The Countess Shoots with a Kodak."
"For almost his entire life, the photographs of Leo Tolstoy were taken by representatives of photographic firms, photo correspondents, friends, acquaintances, and relatives. Among such well-known photographic masters as Sergey Levitsky, Mikhail Tulinoff, or Karl Bulla, one can probably include Countess Sophia Tolstaya – an indefatigable and original amateur photographer," the project creators say.
The earliest works of Sophia Andreyevna date back to 1887, when she purchased a Kodak camera. However, she took up photography systematically later, in 1895, after the death of her youngest son.
The exhibition will feature more than 150 authentic photographs by Sophia Andreyevna, as well as the album "From the Life of L. N. Tolstoy. Photographs Exclusively by Countess S. A. Tolstaya," published by the Countess in 1911 for the benefit of the peasants affected by fire in the vicinity of Yasnaya Polyana. Visitors to the exhibition will see all 113 photographs from this album.
As noted at the museum-estate "Yasnaya Polyana," a special place in Sophia Andreyevna's collection is occupied by her photographs with her husband on the anniversaries of their wedding, as well as images capturing family events: birthdays, farewells to adult children, and visits from guests. Sophia Andreyevna also enjoyed photographing her favorite places in Yasnaya Polyana. "I took the camera and ran everywhere, shooting nature, the grandchildren, Leo Nikolayevich with his sister, the forest, and the bathing path – and all the lovely nature of Yasnaya Polyana," she recorded in her diary in September 1898.
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