The third pandemic of plague (in its bubonic and pneumonic clinical forms) struck the globe between 1894 and 1959. As Yersinia pestis spread from country to country and from continent to continent, it left behind it not only a trail of death and devastation, but also a vast visual archive. It was the first time that plague would reach and establish itself in all inhabited continents. But it was also the first time that any epidemic would be photographed. As plague spread from harbour to harbour, and amongst cities, towns and villages, so did photographs of the pandemic through reproductions in the daily and illustrated press. Rather than forming a homogeneous or linear visual narrative, these photographic documents provided diverse perspectives on the pandemic, which, more often than not, were not simply different from region to region, but in fact conflicting within any single locus of infection. Moreover this photographic production came to establish a new field of vision, what we may call “epidemic photography” which continues to inform the way in which we see, depict and imagine epidemics and their social, economic, and political impact in the age of Global Health.
In Russia, plague drew the interest of a growing number of medical scientists who enjoyed the sponsorship of Prince Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg. Functioning under the auspices of the internationally active Russian Plague Commission the so-called Plague Fort (Fort Alexander), originally a naval fortress, housed an important plague laboratory from 1899 until 1917. Whilst depicting intensive experiments, Plague Fort’s photographic record also portrays the convivial atmosphere amongst Russia’s plague pioneers, and the tragic end of a number of scientists as a result on plague infection. The Plague Commission organised numerous important plague expeditions both within the Russian Empire (esp. to its Central Asian provinces and to Transbaikalia) and abroad (India, Porto, Manchuria, Arabia) and led to the establishment of several anti-plague stations (e.g. Transbaikalia, the Caucasus) with leading scientists like Danilo Kirilovich Zabolotny making major contributions to the understanding of sylvatic plague. At the same time plague outbreaks in Russian harbours like Odessa advanced the study of rats as hosts of the disease.
Janga la tatu la tauni (katika aina zake za kliniki za bubonic na pneumonic) liligonga dunia kati ya 1894 na 1959. Yersinia pestis ilipoenea kutoka nchi moja hadi nyingine na kutoka bara moja hadi jingine, iliacha nyuma yake sio tu mauti na uharibifu, lakini pia kumbukumbu kubwa ya kuona. Ilikuwa mara ya kwanza kwa tauni hiyo kufika na kujitegemea katika mabara yote yenye watu. Lakini pia ilikuwa mara ya kwanza kwa janga lolote kupiga picha. Kama vile tauni ilivyosambaa kutoka bandari moja hadi nyingine, na kati ya miji, vijiji na vijiji, ndivyo picha za janga hilo zilivyoenea kupitia uzalishaji katika vyombo vya habari vya kila siku na vya picha. Badala ya kuunda hadithi ya kuona ya moja kwa moja au ya mstari, nyaraka hizi za picha zilitoa mtazamo tofauti juu ya janga, ambayo mara nyingi haikuwa tofauti tu kutoka mkoa hadi mkoa, lakini kwa kweli zilipingana ndani ya eneo moja la maambukizi. "Kwa kuongezea, uzalishaji huu wa picha ulikuja kuanzisha uwanja mpya wa maono, kile tunaweza kuita ""upigaji picha wa janga"" ambao unaendelea kuelezea njia ambayo tunaona, kuelezea na kufikiria janga na athari zao za kijamii, kiuchumi na kisiasa katika enzi ya Afya ya Ulimwenguni." Katika Urusi, tauni ilivutia idadi kubwa ya wanasayansi wa kitiba ambao walifurahia utegemezo wa Prince Alexander Petrovich wa Oldenburg. "Kuna ""Plague Fort"" (Fort Alexander) ambayo ilijengwa mwaka 1899 na ilikuwa kituo cha uchunguzi wa magonjwa ya kuambukiza magonjwa ya kuambukiza." Wakati kuelezea majaribio makali, rekodi ya picha ya Plague Fort pia inaonyesha hali ya kirafiki kati ya waanzilishi wa tauni ya Urusi, na mwisho wa kusikitisha wa wanasayansi kadhaa kama matokeo ya maambukizi ya tauni. Tume ya Plague iliandaa safari nyingi muhimu za tauni ndani ya Milki ya Urusi (esp. Miongoni mwa maeneo ya Asia ya Kati na Transbaikalia, India, Manchuria, na Uarabuni, kuna vituo vya kupambana na tauni. Transbaikalia, Caucasus) na wanasayansi mashuhuri kama Danilo Kirilovich Zabolotny kufanya michango mikubwa kwa uelewa wa tauni sylvatic. Wakati huohuo, milipuko ya tauni katika bandari za Urusi kama vile Odessa ilifanya utafiti wa panya kuwa wenyeji wa ugonjwa huo uendelee.