Photographs of the early twentieth century by M.P. Dmitrieva

Maxim Petrovich Dmitriev was born on August 21, 1858 in the village of Povalishino, Kirsanovsky district, Tambov province.

In 1877 he moved to Nizhny Novgorod and got a job in the studio of photographer A. O. Karelin. Over 10 years of work, he mastered all the intricacies of being a photographer and in 1887 opened his own workshop in Nizhny Novgorod.

Dmitriev was a talented portrait and documentary photographer. For several years he traveled to all the Volga cities, photographing Volga landscapes, city views, and everyday scenes. His works have received high awards at exhibitions in Paris, Amsterdam, Chicago and New York. In the former premises of Dmitriev’s studio (Nizhny Novgorod), Russia’s first museum of photography was opened.