Vallei met dorp aan de militaire weg in Georgië c. 1890 - 1900

Dimitri Ivanovitch Ermakov captured this photograph, ‘Valley with Village on the Military Road in Georgia’, in the late 19th century. During this period, photography served not only as documentation, but also as a tool for constructing narratives about culture and identity. Ermakov, a photographer of Georgian heritage, documented the Caucasus at a time when the region was undergoing significant transformation under Russian imperial rule. The ‘military road’ in the photograph symbolizes Russia's strategic influence in the area, facilitating movement and control. The presence of the road tells of a tension between the promise of modernization and the imposition of foreign power. The photograph invites us to reflect on the complex interplay between landscape, identity, and power. What does it mean to capture a place already marked by military presence? How do we reconcile the romantic vision of the valley with the reality of imperial expansion? This tension shapes our understanding of the photograph, making us aware of the stories it tells and the ones it leaves untold.