The photographs are someone else’s work. Their histories belong here.

WITNESS is a personal, open archive of documentary photography. It carries no advertising, paid subscriptions or image sales. Voluntary support helps purchase better archival files and the rights needed to display them.

The project keeps verifiable facts beside each photograph: who made it and when, what is actually known about the scene, where the original is held and which details remain disputed.

I am raising funds to buy historical photographs in the highest available quality and the licences needed to display them. This helps trace the rest of a photographic series, check captions against primary sources and expand the open archive without substitutions or invented details.

Support is voluntary. It grants no rights to the photographs and no special access to the stories. Contributions can be made through YooMoney or to the cryptocurrency addresses shown in the site footer.

Every story links to the archive records, museums, libraries, agencies and other sources used in its preparation. Where accounts disagree or a claim lacks a reliable source, the story says so.

Colour versions are separated from the originals and labelled. We do not use neural restoration, generative additions or altered details in historical photographs.

This site is for reading and reference. For research, teaching or publication, check the primary source, which may have fuller metadata, restrictions or corrections.

External links lead to independent sites with their own terms. WITNESS is not responsible for their availability or content.

Rights in the photographs belong to their makers, heirs, archives or other rights holders identified beside the images. Online availability and free access to this site do not, by themselves, place a work in the public domain or replace permission from the rights holder.

Before downloading or reusing a photograph, check its status and terms with the source. If you hold rights or find an error in an attribution, caption or file status, write to andrey@zubrilov.com. We will review, correct or remove the material as appropriate.

For general background, see the World Intellectual Property Organization’s copyright FAQ.

The site has no accounts, data-submission forms or advertising systems. Visits are counted with Yandex Metrica, counter 113041104. Its code loads after the main page; the site continues to work if Yandex is unavailable. Session replay and recording of visitors’ actions are disabled.

Metrica receives visit information, including the page address, referring source and technical browser data. It may store identifiers in cookies and browser local storage to distinguish visitors. See Yandex Metrica’s documentation and Yandex’s privacy policy. The selected colour theme is also saved in browser local storage.

The YooMoney button appears when a visitor expands “Rouble transfer”. Only then does the browser load the payment service, which may process visit data under its own terms. Cryptocurrency addresses are displayed as text; the site does not connect to a visitor’s wallet. WITNESS does not receive payment-card details.

Like most web servers, the server may automatically keep technical access logs: IP address, time, requested address, response code and browser information. These records support the operation and protection of the site and are not used to build advertising profiles.

The email link opens the visitor’s mail application. Correspondence is processed by the sender’s and recipient’s mail services under their own terms.

For corrections, questions about sources and rights-holder enquiries: andrey@zubrilov.com.