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Photography in Uzbekistan started developing after 1882, when aVolga German photographer and schoolteacher named Wilhelm Penner moved to Khiva as a part of theRussian Mennonite migration to Central Asia led byClaas Epp, Jr. After his arrival in theKhanate of Khiva, Penner shared his photography skills with a local studentKhudaibergen Devanov, who later became the founder ofUzbek photography.[1]
The first still photographs of Central Asia were shot by Russian photographer Anton Murenko, who came there with the Russian diplomatic mission in 1858.[2]
The first color photographs of Central Asia belong toSergey Prokudin-Gorsky, one of the founders of color photography.[3]
Khudaibergen Devanov's photographs were unique in terms of demonstrating historically significant transition of Central Asian nations to the Soviet Union. Despite hispioneering in this newly introduced type ofvisual arts with hisethnographic and documentary photographs in the region, Khudaibergen Devanov was repressed by theSoviet regime and executed in 1940.[4] Upon his arrest, big part of Devanov's archive was destroyed by the law enforcement agencies; however, his family succeeded in preserving a part of the archive. Some of Devanov's works are currently preserved in theRussian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive atKrasnogorsk.[5]
In the Soviet period, many Uzbek photographers focused on documentary photography. One of the most prominent representatives of the Uzbek photography isMax Penson.Photojournalist Max Penson moved toUzbekistan in 1915 and demonstrated historical,social, religious and political transformations that took place there under the Soviet influence by his photographs of unveiling and education of woman and children, construction of large-scale projects asGreat Fergana Canal and many others.[6] His photograph titled "Uzbek Madonna" received the Grand Prize at the 1937Universal Exhibition in Paris.[7]
In 1997, a building in the center of Tashkent city, which was constructed 1934 and had been used as the History Museum and the Art Exhibitions Directorate before, got the status of the Tashkent House of Photography. In 2005 Tashkent House of Photography was included in the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan.[8]
In 2009, photographer from UzbekistanUmida Akhmedova, whose images have been published in the photography sections of the online editions ofThe New York Times,[9]Wall Street Journal[10] andThe Globe and Mail,[11] was officially accused of "defamation, insult and slander" of the Uzbek nation.[12] Akhmedova's photo-album "Women and Men: From Dawn to Dusk" and a documentary film "The Burden of Virginity" were used as evidences against the photographer during the trial. She was found guilty and though the charges carried a prison sentence of up to three years, they were waived as saying that Akhmedova had been granted an amnesty in honor of the 18th anniversary of Uzbek independence.[13]
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