ETHNICITY OF RUSSIAN GERMANS IN PHOTOS: VISIBLE IMAGES AND HIDDEN MEANINGS
The article discusses the role of photography in maintaining and actualizing the ethnicity of Russian Germans. Sources for the article were photographs collected and taken during expeditions to the Germans of Siberia and the Urals. During expeditionary research, it became clear that photographs contain a large amount of information related to literally all aspects of the material and spiritual life of Russia’s Germans. The ethnicity of Russian Germans throughout the 20th century underwent various transformations (from zeroing and eradication to rebirth and openness). These changes also affected the designation of ethnicity. The key way to position the Germans’ ethnicity and the possibility of preserving it, instead of its real manifestation, was visual. It is obvious that without ethnographic photographs it would be impossible to reproduce the German folk costume, because it took urban forms very early. It would be difficult to describe the economy, material culture, and interior. Without photography it would be impossible to create a virtual museum and reconstruct ritual. It often happened that traditional culture was artificially hidden, however, unique rituals were found in photographs of that time. Family photo albums have become “memory places” and a way of preserving the people’s ethnic history and gaining identity. For the Germans themselves, photography is part of their identity, but in a visual format.