The Fostinum
William Carrick was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a timber merchant. His father moved the family to Russia shortly after William was born, moving to St. Petersburg in 1844. After finishing his studies, William established a photography studio on Malaia Morskaia street in St. Petersburg. While he tried his hand at portrait photography (the more lucrative photography business at the time), he became well-known for his ethnographic photos of everyday Russians, so called "Russian Types," a number of which you can see above. Consequently, Carrick's photos are some of the best records of Russian life in the 1860's and 1870's before his death in St. Peterburg in 1878.
The collector is the true resident of the interior. The collector dreams his way not only into a distant or bygone world but also into a better one.
- Walter Benjamin