Images of Revolution: An American Photographer in Petrograd, 1917

Authors

  • David H. Mould Ohio University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17161/jras.v1i1.6561

Abstract

Photographer Donald Thompson arrived in Petrograd on the eve of the February Revolution in 1917. Over the next six months, he photographed demonstrations and street-fighting, was caught in crossfire, arrested, and thrown in jail.  He traveled to Moscow and the front lines, and photographed Tsar Nicolas II, political and military leaders, and prominent foreign visitors. He witnessed the power struggle between the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet, and the breakdown of discipline in the army.  Donald Thompson in Russia, a compilation of letters to his wife with photos, published in 1918, outlines his conspiracy thesis that “German intrigue, working among the unthinking masses, has brought Russia to her present woeful condition.” 

Author Biography

  • David H. Mould, Ohio University

    David H. Mould, a British-born journalist, is professor emeritus of media studies at Ohio University. His American Newsfilm, 1914-1919 (Routledge, 1984), featuring Thompson, was republished in 2014. In recent years he has traveled extensively in Madagascar and Central Asia. A book on the latter, Postcards from Stanland, was published last year by Ohio University Press. A lecture, “Images of World War One: The Films of Pioneer Kansas Photographer Donald Thompson” was very well received at the University of Kansas last month. Norman Saul] 

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Published

2017-05-15

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Mould, D. H. (2017). Images of Revolution: An American Photographer in Petrograd, 1917. Journal of Russian American Studies, 1(1), 46-61. https://doi.org/10.17161/jras.v1i1.6561