Krasnoyarsk photographer Ludwig Wonago

For several decades, the name of the photographer Ludwig Wonago (1872-1935) was in oblivion, and his photographic work, referring to the first third of the twentieth century, was virtually inaccessible to regional historians. His collections are stored in the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local History, and up to now remain completely unexplored. The Museum collection includes more than 600 Wonago's glass negatives, about 100 photographic prints and also postcards with his photos. The problem is that among Krasnoyarsk regional historians the identity of Ludwig Yul'evich Wonago is confused with his brother Reinhold Yul'evich Wonago, who also practiced photography. The article is based on the materials of the State Archive of Krasnoyarsk Krai, the scientific archive and collection of the photographer of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local History. The article presents the identity of Ludwig Wonago, his profession, place of service and the main milestones of his creative and life path. Wonago's father Yuri Wonago was a forest guard in Kovno Governorate (Government of Kaunas) of the Russian Empire. He was exiled to Siberia for the participation in the Polish uprising (January Uprising) of 1863-1864. Ludwig Wonago born in Tomsk, but spent most of his life in Krasnoyarsk. For several years he worked as a forest guard and a topographer in Yeniseysk Governorate. Photography was his hobby of a lifetime. He published his photographs in booklets and as postcards. Often Wonago photographed significant events in Krasnoyarsk such as parades, manifestations, demonstrations, the processes of construction of new buildings. For example, he photographed the famous Norwegian polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen in Krasnoyarsk in September 1913. At the end of his life he worked as a photographer in the Krasnoyarsk Yenisei Territory Museum (now Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local History). He photographed for the needs of the museum on the themes of socialist construction, the life of village, socialist competition, and so on. The value of the heritage of Ludwig Wonago for the history and culture of the city of Krasnoyarsk and Siberia is priceless. The article discusses only the main themes of his photographic work, which is actually more broad and multifaceted. Probably, Ludwig Wonago is the first big master of reportage and genre photos in Eastern Siberia. His photographic legacy stands out among all the photographers of Krasnoyarsk region of the 1860s-1930s.

Keywords

Authors

References