A Small Provocation

[Jocko]

We've recently seen some fine examples of Amateur Photographer's ignorance regarding Soviet photography and cameras. But it was not always so. I thought members might enjoy this discussion of three recent Soviet photographs that appeared in AP on November 10, 1960. It's intriguing to note that the author intuits the difficulty of adequately depicting Khruschev's USSR when official aesthetics were still rooted in Stalinist Socialist Realism - a problem which was a major issue for Soviet artists of the time.

The pictures will be found in the next post - It's hard not to think that Khorunzhy's superb Seismologists does not contain an element of what our Soviet friends would have called "cold war provocation"...

Cheers, Ian

 

[Jocko]

The Pictures

 

[jan normandale]

Jocko, goes to show even Russians are good with cameras .. propaganda not withstanding.

I find the most interesting thing to be the fact these shots were submitted by Soviet citizens to a competition held by the Leeds Camera Club. How is that for true international competition.

 

[Spider67]

Keep them coming Ian...I have not forgotten on sharing memories of the 70's and 80's with you but those pics just show a similar understaning of history with a slight ironic touch....perhaps I should bring some excerpst from books on how to make nudes from the 50's the explanations are sad and hilarious at the same time!

 

[lushd]

Those are beautiful photographs and much more beautiful
than the stuff that you see in AP these days. The discussion is intelligent and knowledgeable too although I don't
agree about the pictorialism - they are much too lively and not nearly
twee enough to be traditional British pictorialism.

 

[Jocko]

I find the most interesting thing to be the fact these shots were submitted by Soviet citizens to a competition held by the Leeds Camera Club. How is that for true international competition.

An excellent point Jan - intriguingly, in the same magazine there is an article on portraiture. There are 6 - two of the subjects are black, one is asian and there are three women and three men. That would certainly have been unimaginable in a british magazine until quite recently. I sometimes think we fail to understand just how international and barrier-breaking photography was in those dark pre-internet days.

Spider - Do It! That sounds fascinating!

Cheers, Ian

 

[Jocko]

Those are beautiful photographs and much more beautiful
than the stuff that you see in AP these days. The discussion is intelligent and knowledgeable too although I don't
agree about the pictorialism - they are much too lively and not nearly
twee enough to be traditional British pictorialism.

Now what bolshy picture of Magnitogorsk could possibly compare with a splendid snap of Morris Dancers with one's Agifold?

Cheers, Ian

 

[Welsh_Italian]

Wow! I'm impressed with Seismology! The composition is great, nice stark tones to imply solidity, and position to show concentration. Nice work.

And the third one: what a lot of grain! Not surprising given that the available light is poor and gives a high contrast. It makes me feel good about using ISO3200 film in my Fed 2.

Thanks for the pictures and commentary by AP. I really enjoyed that and learned from it.

 

[raid]

These three photos are like paintings. Thanks for posting such beautiful artistic photos here.

Raid

 

[varjag]

Raid,

About "Seismologists": on the map they seem to be marking something around Nevada, the place where U.S. held nuclear bomb tests, isn't it?

EDIT: Sorry Raid, was addressed to Ian actually

 

[John Robertson]

Raid,

About "Seismologists": on the map they seem to be marking something around Nevada, the place where U.S. held nuclear bomb tests, isn't it?

EDIT: Sorry Raid, was addressed to Ian actually

Title should be
"Our Latest Missile Will Just Reach Here"

 

[oftheherd]

Raid,

About "Seismologists": on the map they seem to be marking something around Nevada, the place where U.S. held nuclear bomb tests, isn't it?

EDIT: Sorry Raid, was addressed to Ian actually

Or the LA fault? San Andreas I think it is.

 

[zuikologist]

All superb photos - thanks for sharing. As has been said, AP has fallen a long way since those days.

 

[Athena]

Raid,

About "Seismologists": on the map they seem to be marking something around Nevada, the place where U.S. held nuclear bomb tests, isn't it?

EDIT: Sorry Raid, was addressed to Ian actually

Actually, if you look closely, the "X" is around LA (i.e. on the coastline and north of the Baja penisula). I suspect that they are marking the San Andreas Fault. Depending on when in the 1950's it was taken (the photo contest entry was in 1960 so the pics were taken before then) it may have been a "tracking" of a then recent earthquake. What is "telling" of course, since these are seismologists working in the pre-satellite era, is that they are "tracking" based on seismograph readings. Even during the "worst" of the Cold War, seismologists maintained a worldwide network of seismographs.


BTW: Nevada only became a nuclear test site after the USSR and US signed the above-ground Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty around 1963 or 1964. Prior to doing so, the US did above-ground tests on atolls in the South Pacific Ocean.

While the composition of all of the pics is stunning - the film must have been quite crude given the graininess (even for 1960).

And of course, like all good Soviet propaganda, the pics are OF workers (rather skilled ones at that) submitted as if they were BY workers.

EDIT: BTW, I found the nuclear workers pic to be the most stunning - although I suspect it was "posed" to get the effect of all those sparks flying at the same time. Even though the USSR never gave a damn about workplace safety - I would doubt that most construction would have been done with such a degree of fireworks!

 

[varjag]

Ok, so LA fault could be that Another detail in the picture is that one of seismologists holding a blank of government telegraphy notice, assuming they're tracking some recent (and important) event.

As of who done the photos: to be fair, photography was one of few popular (and not viewed as extravagant or upscale) hobbies in USSR. A lot of people from any background were skilled photographers and printers; Sovetskoe Foto, the sole photographic magazine of Soviet Union, was flooded with amateur input, some of which was top class. The industrial theme was immensely popular in part because it was the easiest pick for a magazine or local newspaper.

The graininess of the film can be amplified by poor print reproduction of the time, you have to remember these are not direct scans. That said, USSR did not produce anything matching Tri-X.. the closest match would be AGFA emulsions of the period. The skater photo seems to be quite pushed, since the top speed consumer film available in USSR then was around 125-150 ISO.

 

[lushd]

I am curious about the grain issue - is it possible that some of the apparent grain is because of the reproduction process used by AP?

I should have said earlier that the Nuclear one reminds me strongly of a picture by Piranesi:

http://www.queensu.ca/english/tdq/

Was there a little sub message here?

 

[Superbus_]

What a great pictures... I just love the second one.

 

[Jocko]

I am curious about the grain issue - is it possible that some of the apparent grain is because of the reproduction process used by AP?

I should have said earlier that the Nuclear one reminds me strongly of a picture by Piranesi:

http://www.queensu.ca/english/tdq/

Was there a little sub message here?

I was just going to say the same thing! Not about Piranesi (which is exactly right) but about AP.

The magazine was basically printed on thick newsprint and all the pictures are high-contrast and grainy. Not that I think that this necessarily misrepresents the originals. Given that in 1959-60 US politics were convulsed by the mythical missile and bomber "gaps", it struck me that the seismologists image was not without a certain wry humour - the lighting somehow reminded me of "Dr Strangelove".

In reality, of course, this photograph depicts KGB planners sowing the seeds of Hippydom in San Francisco!

Cheers, Ian

 

[Sylvaticus]

Thanks Jocko, I enjoyed this

 

[jan normandale]

@ Jocko... I always suspected that hippies were actually communist puppets.. now it has been proven conclusively.

Inferior film made by communists was never the equal of capitalist film. Unless of course we capitalists decide to be artistic and use grain in our photographs. Communists could never have such luxurious choices under their system so all photos must be grainy.

j/k/h ;- )