Karelin, Andrei Osipovich

Born July 4 (16), 1837, in the village of Selezni, in present-day Tambov Raion, Tambov Oblast; died July 31 (Aug. 13), 1906, in Nizhny Novgorod (now Gorky). Russian photographer.

Karelin graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1864. While working as a photo retoucher, he developed a keen interest in photography. He opened a photography studio in Kostroma and later in Nizhny Novgorod. Karelin considered photography as a new medium of the pictorial arts. His genre compositions reflected the tendencies of the peredvizhniki painters (the “wanderers,” a progressive art movement). Karelin made many innovative contributions to the art of photography (setup and lighting effects). Through a study of optics, he advanced photographic technique. Karelin received a number of awards at Russian and European photography exhibitions.