A pivotal moment in ethnography in the Russian Empire was the 1867 Russian Ethnographic Exhibition. At the time, it was in fashion to build large-scale pavilions, but the belief in the future of ethnography as a science and the Russian Empire’s ambition to show the diversity of its people led the organisers to make every effort to educate visitors about as many cultures as possible. The exhibition featured traditional folk dress, household items, musical instruments, tools, as well as photographs.
One of the photographers who documented the life of the inhabitants of Latvia for the exhibition was Michał Kuściński. In 1866 on the stairs of Krustpils manor, he photographed Krustpils and Ungurmuiža township farmers in traditional festive dress. These photographs are examples of the initial use of photography in ethnographic research in Latvia.
![](http://lnvm.lv/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/06/2-2W-300x186.jpg)
Krustpils manor farmers. Daugavpils county. 1866. Photo Michał Kuściński. University of Vilnius library
![](http://lnvm.lv/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/06/2-1W-161x300.jpg)
Farmer. Daugavpils county Krustpils township. 1866. Photo Michał Kuściński. University of Vilnius library
The photo – a witness to historical events
![](http://lnvm.lv/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/06/2-6W-300x224.jpg)
Village and township elders from the lands of Krustpils manor. Daugavpils county. 1866. Photo Michał Kuściński. University of Vilnius library
The badge was made of light bronze with a chain, and a pin for attaching. On its front was the coat of arms of the particular province (guberniya) encircled by the inscription: СЕЛЬСКИЙ СТАРОСТА. On back – Alexander II monogram with crown, encircled by the inscription: 19 ФЕВРАЛЯ 1861 ГОДА. The badge was worn on the left side of the chest
The township elder badge was larger than that of the village elder. On its front was the coat of arms of the particular province (guberniya) encircled by the inscription: ВОЛОСТНОЙ СТАРШИНА. On back – Alexander II monogram with crown, encircled by the inscription: 19 ФЕВРАЛЯ 1861 ГОДА. The badge was worn with a special chain while performing official duties
The photographs capture not only the people of Krustpils in traditional festive dress but also significant historical changes. In three of Michał Kuściński’s photographs, the men with badges are township and village elders.
These positions were created after the abolition of serfdom, which took place in Latgale in 1861. With this newly acquired personal freedom, farmers could form local self-governed municipalities.
The smallest administrative unit was the village, headed by the village elder. Several villages together formed a township, led by an township elder. On 27 July 1861, badges of office for senior village and township positions were approved. The local governor was responsible for minting them. To announce the use of these new badges, circulars with attached drawings and the order to expedite the use of the badges were sent to the provinces of the Russian Empire.
Unique source in the history of clothing
![](http://lnvm.lv/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/06/2-3W-214x300.jpg)
Farmer. Daugavpils county Krustpils township. 1866. Photo Michał Kuściński. University of Vilnius library
![](http://lnvm.lv/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/06/2-4W-214x300.jpg)
Farmer. Daugavpils county Krustpils township. 1866. Photo Michał Kuściński. University of Vilnius library
![](http://lnvm.lv/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/06/2-5W-233x300.jpg)
Farmer in festive costume. Daugavpils county Ungurmuiža township. 1866. Photo Michał Kuściński. University of Vilnius library
Photographs taken in the mid-19th c. that picture Latvian farmers in traditional festive dress are unique and rare. Increased opportunities to be photographed appeared at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th c., but by then, people were already dressing in modern urban fashion. Michał Kuściński photos reveal significant details that are important in the study of the history of clothing. Photos depict the tradition of clothing in particular time and place, showing also the new (urban fashion) apparel elements (men’s caps, women’s silk and fine wool scarves) and also the addition of new, purchased fabrics in the wardrobes of the rural population.
![](http://lnvm.lv/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/06/2-7W-220x300.jpg)
Artifacts excavated by Michał Kuściński and displayed in his private museum in Zavidovici, Vitebsk province. 1866. Photo Michał Kuściński
Michał Kuściński (1829–1905) was a Polish-born archaeologist, ethnographer and photographer, the founder of photo-ethnography in Belarus. He was educated in Vilnius and St. Petersburg. Kuściński worked in the Statistics Committee of the Vitebsk province and was a member of the Russian Archaeological Society. Kuściński participated in the Russian Ethnographic exhibition (1867) and Anthropological exhibition (1879) in Moscow and helped prepare the Archaeological Congress in Vilnius (1893). In the latter half of the 19th c., he created a museum in his Zavidovici manor in Vitebsk.
In addition to his passion for archaeology, Kuściński was an avid photographer. He was the first to photograph the process of archaeological excavations and finds in Belarus. In the 19th c., Vitebsk province encompassed also three Latgale counties, populated mostly by Latvians, so the photos Kuściński displayed in several Russian exhibitions was a significant addition to Latvian photo-ethnography.
See the next stand: The Latvian ethnographic exhibition. Riga. 1896
See the previous stand: While there is still time – Beginnings of photo-ethnography in Latvia. The beginning