“Murray Howe’s photographs offer an unforgettable glimpse of the Moscow that was lost in the great upheavals of the 20th century. It’s the Moscow of late Tolstoy, and Howe had an uncanny ability to capture it, especially considering that he was an amateur working before photojournalism was an established field. Howe’s street characters jump off the prints, and his composition tells a story of wit and woe. We stare at the faces staring back at us and wonder what became of these people in the turbulent years that followed.”
Jonathan Earle
The Moscow Times
Men and Methods
The Magazine of Business 1914
“We don’t have quite anything like these photographs. The photographers featured in our collection [over 100,000 images] were typically on contract to photograph monuments, architecture, because they knew the city was growing – capitalism – old estates and houses were being destroyed.”
Vladimir Kuznetsov
Head of exhibitions, the Moscow City Museum
“Murray Howe’s compelling images of Russia bear witness to a deeply polarized society on the brink of revolution. Extraordinary wealth and poverty resonate in Howe’s 1909 series dococumenting life in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Howe, an American photojournalist(1869-1941), offers a privleged glimpse of the high and low of Russian society and culture during the final years of the Romanov dynasty.”
Sally Metzler
Author, Curator, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
“I’ve long been an admirer of Murray Howe’s writing because of his humor and insights into the horse world. I had no idea, however, that he was so talented and adventurous with a camera until I saw this astonishing collection of photos from Russia. It’s like opening a door to a vanished world. I can study each photo over and over again and gain new insights. It’s certainly altered my relationship to Murray Howe and made me gain new respect for what an extraordinary person he truly was.”
Dean A. Hoffman
Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame Communicators Corner
“The lively, immediate photographs by Murray Howe succeed marvelously in bringing to life a world that is long gone, allowing us a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people in Tsarist Russia. Unpublished for a century, they are a true historical treasure trove.”
Philipp Blom
Author of The Vertigo Years
“President Mikhail Gorbachev was pleased to receive a copy of the brochure presenting your great-grandfather photos from Russia – that Russia which was almost absolutely lost in the fire of revolutions, civil war, industrial modernization and Stalin repressions. Thank you for keeping memory about your great-grandfather and maintaining his heritage.”
Marina Koltypina
PR Officer
“When I look at these photographs, I want to get to get in there and talk to these people. Just have normal, everyday conversations with them. It’s easy to imagine.”
Alexander Frolov
Historian, Moscow architecture and preservation organization Arkhnadzor
“It was a delight for the museum to host you yesterday. Your presentation was extremely informative and interesting, and your fascinating stories and unique scrapbook images made the world of your great-grandfather come truly alive. The photographs themselves are pure gold…you have a marvellous collection.”
Cynthia Duval
Chief Curator and Curator of Decorative Arts Museum of Arts & Sciences, Daytona Beach, FL
“It’s the bright eyes and hopeful faces I can’t stop seeing. How many of these young men would never leave Tannenburg or the Masurian Lakes in just five years? How many more would be caught up in revolution and civil war? To them, the Tsar and his palaces might have been on the Moon. They were as regular as we are.”
Ann Nottingham