Here is a pointer to an exhibit of photographs at the Library of Congress taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii in Tsarist Russia between 1909 and 1915. 
Prokudin-Gorskii was a bona-fide pioneer in the area of photographic innovation, was appointed Photographer to the Tsar and charged with creating a photographic record of the Tsar’s empire. The photographs were originally recorded on glass plates through colored filters, purchased by the Library of Congress in 2001 and then scanned, digitized and enhanced for purposes of the exhibition.
Many/most of the images are richly detailed, taken with a artists’s eye for composition, are from a humanist’s perspective, if too-stiffly-posed.
An outstanding example of Prokudin-Gorskii’s work is his portrait of Muhammad Alim Khan taken in 1911 on the occasion of his accession as Emir of Bukhara.
The Empire That Was Russia – The Prokudin-Gorskii Photograhic Record Recreated
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What a great legacy Prokudin-Gorskii left, a real treasure trove for historians.