Author: Pēteris Korsaks
At the beginning of the 20th century Riga became an economically developed city of the Russian Empire, as this period stands out due to several events – building of water pumping station that supplied water from Lake Baltezers, establishment of City Art Museum, expanding of Riga 1st Hospital, opening of electric tram line, building of Riga power plant in Andrejosta, construction of buildings dedicated to Riga’s 700th anniversary and other objects. Rapid development of public building required many working hands, thus, the number of Riga’s inhabitants grew. Workers from the countryside settled down in Riga. In 1960s there were 23.6% of Latvians in Riga, whereas before World War I their proportion already reached 40%. Besides, the number of wealthy Rigans grew as well. Accordingly, the demand for photography became higher as workers from the countryside who left their homes wanted to send some photos to their relatives.
The number of Latvian photographers grew, though there was a tough competition among Latvian and German photographers. In practice, German clients turned to German photographers, while Latvians – to their compatriots, with some exceptions, of course. During the Art Nouveau period till World War I, the number of Latvian photographers prevailed over that of German professionals.
Upon analysing the collections of Latvia’s museums and Riga Art Nouveau Museum, it can be concluded that photographs made by Latvian photographers, especially those working in Riga - Jānis Rieksts, Indriķis Baumanis (his wife Emilija was the photographer), Mārtiņš Lapiņš, Ansis Skariņš, Andrejs Saulītis, Roberts Mateuss, Ādams Ferģis and others, are more outstanding. The below described photographs testify to it.
More information will be available in the virtual exhibition, which will be established till April 2016.
