The Museum of Rarities of Tsarist Russia

Since childhood I have been fond of the history of Russia. I was collecting, buying, and exchanging a lot of antiques; I spent a lot of time and money on this. In the meantime, a decent collection of photographs was forming. All this was kept at my home, and when friends came to visit, they never stopped being in awe of my collection. One day my wife jokingly said that it was time to open up my own museum. This was the beginning of my actions. I replenished my collection, which was already built up by that time, by buying interesting and rare things at various auction sites. Then, I found a good place in my home city. This is how the Museum of Rarities appeared in Kuznetsk. The museum showcases a collection of rare war photographs from Tsarist Russia dating from the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The exposition presents photographs of the guardsmen of the oldest guard regiments of Tsarist Russia (Life Guards); photographs were awarded with the Emperor’s medals and foreign awards. Some of the photographs are hand-colored with retouching, which is not common today.