In the village of Ternovskaya in Kuban, a boy named Vanya Boldyrev grew up. His Cossack parents considered him weak and not very bright: he struggled to stay in the saddle, couldn't handle a sabre, and showed no interest in military affairs. However, Vanya was fascinated by technology. He had a great understanding of mechanisms and loved to fix things, which is why all the clocks in the village worked like Swiss ones. At 19, he was drafted into the army, and his parents hoped he would acquire the necessary skills there. But Ivan ran away and settled in Novocherkassk.

There he noticed a photo studio with rich decor and various equipment. Boldyrev persuaded the owner to take him on as an assistant. Within a year, Ivan created his first invention, the 'universal short-focus lens,' which caused a sensation in Novocherkassk. Soon he decided to conquer the capital, and his works made an indelible impression on the local bohemia. But that was not enough for Ivan; he dreamed of a grand project and conceived a series of photographs about the Don Cossacks.

For almost two years, he photographed his 'fellow tribesmen' on the flexible film he invented. Before this, all photographers used glass plates, which were fragile and expensive. Ivan came up with a lightweight, durable, and flexible material for the photo base, creating the first photographic film, a precursor to what is used in our 'point-and-shoot' cameras. The photographs turned out magnificent. Boldyrev wanted to patent his film, but it required 150 rubles, and the Technical Society obstructed him, as it threatened losses for glass plate manufacturers.

At this time, in the USA, George Eastman acquired a similar technology and quickly launched it into production, founding the famous photo empire Kodak. The traces of Vanya Boldyrev were lost even before the revolution, and unfortunately, his dream did not come true.