This documentary tells the story of the remarkable achievements of architectural historian and distinguished photographer, Professor of Slavic studies, and Sizeler Professor of Jewish Studies at Tulane University William Brumfield, a unique American, who may well love, understand and treasure Russian culture better than many Russians themselves.
Brumfield has been visiting Russia since 1970 and has studied and documented Russia’s architectural landmarks, from the ancient monasteries of the North to modernist architecture in Moscow, from industrial towns in the Urals to small wooden villages. He argues that his "work as a photographer is essential in defining what I do as an historian."His first book, Gold in Azure: One Thousand Years of Russian Architecture, published by in 1983 became a comprehensive history of Russian architecture from its origins in the late 10th century to the late Soviet period—all illustrated with the author’s photographs. He studied and presented the Prokudin-Gorsky collection. In 1985, he curated the first exhibition of Prokudin-Gorsky’s photographs at The Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Later he made many journeys followed in the footsteps of the Imperial Russian photographer and published a book focusing on juxtaposition of Prokudin-Gorsky’s photographs made by Prokudin-Gorsky in the early 20th century and his own images photographed during his trips in the 1970s and late 1990s. He is a recipient of a few Russian prizes and awards. He was elected to the State Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, and to the Russian Academy of Fine Arts.