On the one hand, this was due to the more favorable conditions that existed here for photographers thanks to accessible communication routes, including railways, which began to be laid in the 1880s, and the support of the Russian authorities. However, the main reason was that the Bukhara-Samarkand, Khwarazmian, and Tashkent oases, and the Ferghana Valley, concentrated the most significant achievements in urban planning and architecture, artistic crafts and trades, and ornamental art. The earliest photographs date back to 1858. The album in which they are compiled is entitled "From Orenburg through Khiva to Bukhara. Photography of the Artillery of Second Lieutenant Murenko". It contains 28 images.
You can learn more about the topic in the book-album “Uzbekistan in historic photographs of the 19th - early 20th centuries in the collections of Russian archives” (Volume XXXVII) in the series “Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan”.
The general sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell-Group.
The First Photographs of Uzbekistan
The central areas of the region - the territory of modern-day Uzbekistan - especially attracted the attention of photographers.