"Teatime Even While in Penal Servitude"

 

I came across a new-to-me image on the Library of Congress website this week, and I had to just shake my head when I realized it featured political prisoners in Russia. Old habits die hard with those folks, don't they? The US political system certainly has its issues these days, but we still don't lock up those who disagree with us. I can't imagine living where that was the norm!
The photos's description said, "This photograph is from an album of 47 views of convicts and structures at the Akatuy Prison, one of the main centers where political prisoners were held in the Russian Empire during the late-tsarist period. The album belonged to Isaiah Aronovich Shinkman, a physician and member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, who was incarcerated at Akatuy from 1906 to 1911. The prison was located at the Akatuy silver mine in Nerchinsk okrug (district) in the Transbaikal Territory of Siberia."

I'm rather surprised that these prisoners got to drink tea, but nobody looks particularly happy in this photo, do they? I much prefer happy teatimes among friends who want to be there, but I must say I found this photo intriguing. I hope you do too!