Prokudin-Gorskii captured this image of a nomadic Kyrgyz family on the Golodnaia (Hungry) Steppe, presumably close to the railway station where he observed the solar eclipse. The Golodnaia Steppe lies between Samarkand and Tashkent, stretching north from the foothills of the Tian-Shan Mountains.
Not quite so inhospitable as the great deserts of Central Asia, the Steppe bloomed in early spring, providing rich grazing pastures. The Kyrgyz assembled their yurts amid the meadows for their herds of sheep, horses and camels to graze until the season grew hot and barren. They then returned to their native Tian-Shan Mountains.
Prokudin-Gorskii, Sergei Mikhailovich. Nomadic Kyrgyz, 1906-1911. 1 negative (3 frames) : glass, b&w, three-color separation. Library of Congress, Prokudin-Gorskii Collection.
