Three volunteer Russian soldiers from Bulgaria

Photograph of three volunteer Russian soldiers from Bulgaria standing in a group. They are wearing military uniform and have swords by their sides. The soldier standing at the centre is wearing a fur hat. There is an ornate border on the mount surrounding the photograph. Szathmari was one of the first war photographers, and the first to photograph the Crimean War. In the spring of 1854 he travelled to the area around the Danube and photographed the Turkish and Russian soldiers engaged in the first skirmishes of the war. He exhibited the resulting photographs at the Paris World Exposition of 1855 and presented copies to Queen Victoria and Emperor Napoleon III.