I’m obsessed with searching for stuff from the World War One era, and Etsy does not disappoint. This collection of sixty postcards were sent from an British sergeant stationed in Russia to his family and friends. This is what makes me want to start a journal (for real this time). Save your correspondence, friends!

See more here!

I also found this German relic from the same era. It was sent by an American soldier to his wife at home. The address?

Mrs. B. Seldin Feldman
30 Nostrand Ave
Brooklyn, New York USA

The listing states that if you “know a Feldman in Brooklyn, pass it on!” If this isn’t meant for me, I don’t know what is! (Wrong spelling of Feldmann, but whatevs.)

More Russian love! Believe it or not, these sumptuous, color soaked images were taken a century ago, from 1909 to 1912. According to the Big Picture, “Photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) undertook a photographic survey of the Russian Empire with the support of Tsar Nicholas II. He used a specialized camera to capture three black and white images in fairly quick succession, using red, green and blue filters, allowing them to later be recombined and projected with filtered lanterns to show near true color images.”

The thing that strikes me most about these portraits, besides their composition and the vibrancy of the colors, is the wide range of cultures and costuming within one (enormous) empire. Those two women at the top — that’s practically Renaissance-style, and only a century ago! It’s sad that so much traditional costuming has drifted away —perhaps resurrected from the back of the closet during high holidays — resulting in a homogenous blob of Calvin Klein t-shirts, muumuus (God love ‘em!) and cuffed jeans. Sigh. Oh, for a world where it’s not an ironic statement to wear a turban (for me, at least).

Another note: the Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog is such a great concept for a news source. Telling stories through huge, incredible pictures with minimal commentary? Maybe it’s the future of narratives, as attention spans shorten and visuals become so thoroughly entrenched in the internet landscape. My two cents!

Everything about Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia fascinates me — Rasputin, our mutual Levis obsession, religious icons, Communist propaganda, The Master and Margarita, a dim worldview, Futurism, vodka…lots to love, no? However, all of these interests are trumped by the primitive vibrancy of extremely rural Russia (seriously, look at those colors — reminds me of Latin America). Photographer Olya Ivanova ventures to villages across Eastern Europe to photograph dwindling societies that may soon die out in the face of a homogenized, Western world. I’m held by their potent gaze, the painted-over decay and random ephemera taped to the walls, as well as the towering stand of trees — the trees! Argh, to be there now…

The old lady is definitely my favorite, because she reminds me of my grandmother. I’m also fond of the man with the crooked nose and the cat on his shoulders. Adorable.

[Thanks to Dream Cats for turning me on to Olya's work! Check out her Flickr.]

I’ve been obsessed with masha_k_sh‘s work for the longest time. (In fact, this image was a tattoo contender forever. Still is! That or antique penmanship exercises, courtesy of Liane and Joanne. Love those. ) This image gives you a pretty good idea of what she’s about. Check her out on flickr. (Her favorites are also a total goldmine.)