V. P. Yermolaev’s Collection as an Ethnographic Source for Studies of Tuvan Material and Spiritual Culture. Part 2

The article examines the structure of the collection compiled by V. P. Yermolaev (1892–1982), the first director of Tuva’s National Museum, expert in local history, photographer. Goals. The work seeks to investigate the structure of V. P. Yermolaev’s collection, systematize it thematically and analyze problems of its attribution (define the chronological framework). Materials. The paper describes the development of V. P. Yermolaev’s collection, its subject, structure and chronological framework. The collection of photo documents by V. P. Yermolaev comprises photographs and negatives (glass and film ones) numbering over 4,000 storage items. Results. The article systematizes the collection thematically. The history of receipt and formation of the collection is paid special attention to. Conclusions. The study reveals that the formation of the collection was gradual and lasted over several decades. The insight into museum records and photo documents as such concludes that V. P. Yermolaev’s collection of photo documents comprises not only negatives but also albums with control prints and photographs largely supplemented with the author’s own comments. The analysis allows concluding that V. P. Yermolaev was one of the first researchers to have used photography as a key method of data collection and research of Tuva’s sociocultural development.

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