Constantine Vasili opened his studio in Simferople, on the Black Sea coast in the early 1900s. This important port city had a large Greek community and Vasili’s studio had soon become one of the more prestigious photographic establishments in the area. The photographer actively participated in Russian as well as international photographic salons (1901 in Simferopol, 1903 in Rostov on Don). In 1907, Vasili took part in the Bruxelles Universal Exposition, winning a gold medal.

According to art historian S. Glazunova, Vasili’s salon was considered to be the best in Simferopol at the time, due to the high quality of his work and the richness of the studio’s prop department (1). In his best portraits, Vasili aimed to render the psychological depth of his sitters in a manner that recalls the work of the Russian realist painters such as Ilya Repin and Valentin Serov.

Vigen Galstyan, 2014

1) S. A. Glazunova. Catalogue of painting, graphic arts and artistic photography from the collections of the History Museum of Simferopol (in Russian), 2012, http://simferopol.museum.crimea.ua/conference/132-2012-01-06-19-50-27.html. Accessed 28.11.2014