Hello Historians,
Some years ago I received this photo. The story behind its acquisition is long and complicated -- essentially, I've been led to believe that the standing man shares the same (rare) name as me and that we may be related. The person I got the photo from was German, but the men are most likely Slavic, probably Polish or Ukrainian. I know nothing else about the image or the men in it. Some folks at /r/Military believe the uniforms to be Imperial Russian Army prior to 1917. I would love to hear any further details you might be able to provide. Things I wonder about:
What do the uniforms say about the country and time period of service?
What do the insignia mean? I note the epaulettes are different. I assume that's an indication of rank?
Can the medals be identified?
The pose looks rather casual. Would it be reasonable to presume that this is a family photo (i.e., versus something organized by the armed forces) and that Standing Man and Epic Beard Man are related?
Thanks!
Looking at the medals on the gent with the wonderful beard makes me lean towards Imperial Russia as well. The rightmost with a ribbon is likely (I cannot be sure) the Order of St George(fourth class as it is worn at the breast) or the The Cross of Saint George (The former for officers, the later for NCOs and enlisted men). To its left appears to be the Order of Alexander Nevsky or possibly the Order of St. Stanislau, its position on the breast indicates the third class of the order, Companion.
By the end of WW1 most shoulder boards were attached directly to the uniform, so these are likely from pre 1917 as others have suggested.The shoulder boards are also much like Imperial Russian shoulder boards Although I can't pin them down exactly as colour was important, I can tell you that the standing man is an NCO, enlisted man or a cadet by the rectangular shape of his boards and the bearded man is an officer as the corners near the shoulder button are cut away. Here is were it gets confusing for me: Both men appear to have Junker piping on their boards, which confuses me somewhat, but there were so many "special" rules and I am not an expert. The 4 by itself doesn't tell us much at all about the unit, except that it was above Corps level as they used roman numerals. I see no indication of Specialist markings on either man.
I'm going to poke around a bit more as I cannot immediately identify the two badges worn by the seated man, but maybe the information I have provided here will help.
EDIT: After some review by /u/NotRussian-Nope I believe the first medal to be the Order of St. Stanislav and have edited this post to reflect that.
EDIT 2: Both men appear to be wearing ENLISTED Imperial Russian caps.
