The thoughtful faces of Bukharan Jews and Luli Gypsies, tightrope walkers in Khiva, potters at work, sellers in markets, ceremonial portraits of the nobility… This volume contains over 150 archival photographs depicting Uzbekistan during the last third of the 19th to the early 20th centuries. Now all these photographic documents are stored in various archives in the Russian Federation. Each of the chapters covering a specific theme (cities and architectural monuments, representatives of the ruling elite, peoples and ethnic groups, scenes of everyday life) is accompanied by an article about the history of a particular photo collection, as well as about those who captured the realities of that time on film. The photographers themselves often became explorers, discovering the new facets and amazing originality of the culture of the Central Asian peoples, which sometimes could go unnoticed by local historians. The reader will also learn about the development of photography in the Turkestan region and about the fate of photographers who preserved its original appearance for future generations.