Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) will present “Exposing Realism: Maksim Dmitriev and the Photographic Depiction of Female Monastic Life in Late Imperial Russia,” a lecture by William Wagner, Brown Professor of History at Williams College. This event will take place at the museum on Thursday, April 10, 2003, at 4 p.m., and the public is invited to attend.

“The exhibition organized in conjunction with Bill Wagner’s course has generated wide interest both locally and nationally,” says Director Linda Shearer. “Bill’s knowledge of Maksim Dmitriev’s photography combined with his longstanding experience of this region of Russia is sure to make for a fascinating and informative lecture.”

Maksim Dmitriev: Pioneering Photojournalist

The Russian photographer Maksim Dmitriev (1858-1948) was a pioneer in the development of photojournalism in his country. His diverse body of work includes a visual record of the remarkable growth of female monasticism that took place in 19th-century Russia. For these women, monastic life offered not only a rich spiritual experience but also opportunities for education and more fulfilling work. Professor Wagner’s lecture will examine Dmitriev’s photographs of Russian Orthodox monastic life and discuss both what the images reveal and what Dmitriev excluded from his lens.

Professor Wagner is a specialist in the history of Russia and has been at Williams since 1979. His research focuses on women, religion, and orthodox monasticism in Imperial and early Soviet Russia, 1800-1935. He is co-compiler of Russian Women, 1698-1917: Experience and Expression. An Anthology of Sources (2002), and author of “Paradoxes of Piety: The Nizhegorod Convent of the Exaltation of the Cross, 1807-1928,” in Orthodox Russia: Studies in Belief and Practice, 1492-1936 (forthcoming).

In Conjunction with WCMA Exhibition

This event is presented in conjunction with Chronicling Faith: Maksim Dmitriev and the Renaissance of Orthodox Monasticism in Late Imperial Russia, an exhibition of approximately thirty modern prints made from the Russian photographer’s original negatives. The exhibition was arranged by Professor Wagner in conjunction with his course “Muscovy and the Russian Empire.” Chronicling Faith opened on February 1 and will run through June 15, 2003.

Press Image Available

A photograph of Professor Wagner is available. Publicity images for this event and other exhibitions can be found at http://www.wcma.org/press.

The Williams College Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free and the museum is wheelchair accessible.

Contact: Jonathan Cannon, Public Relations Coordinator
413.597.3178; WCMA@williams.edu