Artist Index: Ermakov, Dimitri Ivanovich

Album documenting the construction of the Enzeli-Tehran Road. 1880s. 70 albumen prints, mounted to album pages. Each between 21,5 x 27 cm and 22,2 x 28,5 cm (mounts 49,5 x 33 cm). Each with the photographer’s embossed signature stamp in the lower right corner of the prints and numbered and titled in the negative in lower margin. Bound in red half-leather album with gilt-stamped title on the cover.

This album documents the construction and development of the Enzeli-Tehran road, a strategically important route linking the Caspian Sea to the Persian capital. The images capture dramatic landscapes, engineering works, and settlements along the route, including bridges, mountain passes, and caravan traffic. Built under Russian auspices in the late 19th century, the road served both commercial and military purposes within the broader context of imperial expansion in northern Persia. Widely regarded as one of the foremost documentarians of the Caucasus and adjacent regions, Ermakov traveled extensively across Georgia, Armenia, and Persia; his legacy is preserved by the National Museum of Georgia, which holds a significant collection of his negatives.
– Edges of album slightly rubbed; some scuff marks; some rubbing, foxing, and age staining to the album pages; some foxing, scuff marks, and fading to a number of prints, otherwise all in good to very good condition.

Georgian Military Road. 1883. 30 albumen prints mounted to album pages (slightly soiled). Each between 10,7 x 13,8 cm and 13,2 x 21,7 cm (23,7 x 31,5 cm). Each with photographer's embossed signature stamp in lower right corner of print and titled in pencil below image on mount. Bound in full-canvas album (corners rubbed) with gilt-stamped title Grusinische Militärstrasse Wladikawkas-Tiflis, Reise 1883 and small map from 1875 on the inside cover.

This 1883 album documents the Georgian Military Road, a historic route through the Caucasus Mountains linking Vladikavkaz and Tbilisi. Photographed by Dmitri Ivanovich Ermakov, who began his career in 1868, the images capture dramatic landscapes, landmarks, and settlements along the route. Widely regarded as the foremost documentarian of Georgian life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ermakov traveled extensively across the region. His legacy is preserved by the National Museum of Georgia, which houses a significant collection of his negatives. – Some small surface irregularities and light fading, otherwise in very good condition.