A Russian photographer who held a popular studio in Tiflis, Georgia at the turn of the 20th century. According to the photographer’s studio backstamp, he was in business by mid 1890s, as he had participated in exhibitions held by the Tiflis photographic society, which awarded him with a diploma in 1897. In the early 1900s, Mischenko advertised himself as a photographer of the royal Russian court. He was most likely given this title after taking the portraits of Emperor Nikolai Aleksandrovich I and Empress Maria Feodorovna during their official visits to Tiflis. Mischenko also advertised himself as an official photographer of the Persian Shah, though it is unclear on what terms this title was bestowed. A branch of the studio operated in Rostov on Don (currently Rostov). In later years, the studio was co-run by a T. V. Mischeko.

Though extremely popular in Tiflis during the first two decades of the 20th century, Mischenko’s studio produced very professional but overtly generic portraits of his middle class clientele. However, on the occasion that the subject was sufficiently important or interesting, the photographer did indeed make some stunning psychological studies, as can be seen from the ‘Portrait of an unknown woman from Tiflis‘ (1900s) in Lusadaran’s collection.

Vigen Galstyan, 2014