instance, photographers such as Russian Boris Ig-
natovich (1899–1976), who with his sister was a
student of Rodchenko, used contrasting tones and
unexpected perspectives to convey the atmosphere
of reconstruction and rebuilding after the revolu-
tion. While Ignatovich worked in a more formalistic
manner, other Soviet photographers adopted a
more humanistic approach. The photo records of
large construction projects were published in the
leading Soviet newspapers such asUSSR na stroike
[U.S.S.R. in Construction] and Pravda [Truth],
to name just a few. The images taken by Arkady
Shaikhet, considered the father of Soviet photo-
journalism, Max Alpert, Georgy Zelma, and others
reflected the megalomania of the Soviet construc-
tion enterprise as well as the atmosphere of broth-
erhood between classes and genders that was
commended by the ruling ideology. Along with the
depiction of grand-scale projects, photographers
showcased the individual sacrifices and suffering
of workers.
Not long after the Communists came to power,
they realized the enormous power of photography
as a propaganda. Photography, like no other med-
ium, allowed for flexibility; posters and docu-
mentary photos could be retouched or changed to
express ideology. For instance, during Stalin’s
times, prosecuted politicians were wiped out of the
photographs, their images destroyed. Those who
photographed these images often followed the des-
tiny of their work: they were either killed, impri-
soned, or exiled.
The decades of the 1930s to 1950s, with the ex-
ception of the period from 1941 to 1945 when
Soviet Union participated in the World War II,
allowed for very little artistic photography. Preoc-
cupation with personal visions was seen as betray-
ing Communist values and was prosecuted. The
very small amount of photographs that demon-
strated personal vision rather than serving the dis-
semination of ideas of ‘‘common good’’ was buried
in the archives of the artists. Only in recent deca-
des have these images started to surface in muse-
um exhibitions.
In Poland, documentary photography did not
assume the same popularity as in Germany, Cze-
choslovakia, or to some extent, the Soviet Union.
Polish documentary photographs assumed two
forms. First were the images taken for mass circula-
tion publications, which presented political events
in their social context. The second form was photo-
graphy not intended for mass audiences, but existed
only as part of a photographer’soeuvre. These were
mostly photographic essays made to illuminate a
particular theme. Often, these photo cycles were
commissioned with the purpose of documenting a
vanishing group or phenomenon. For instance,
Roman Vishniac took pictures of Jews living in
ghettoes during the Nazi occupation. The most
important Polish war photographers were J. Rys
and H. Smiagacz, who recorded the September
1939 campaign in the capital. Tadeusz Bukowski,
Sylwester Braun, and Eugeniusz Lokajski docu-
mented the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.
In the Soviet Union during World War II, Dmitri
Baltermants (1912–1990) and Yevgeny Khaldey
(1917–1997), among others, documented the atro-
cities of the war, especially the Soviet Union’s par-
ticipation in the fight with Nazi Germany. Khaldey
earned his fame as the best war photojournalist in
the Soviet Union by documenting such events as the
liberation of the Jewish ghetto in Budapest and the
fall of Nazi Berlin. His image of the Soviet flag
hoisted over the bombed-out German Reichstag
was published in numerous newpapers around the
world. Khaldey was also sent to the summits of
Potsdam and Yalta and to Nuremberg to record
the trials of the Nazi supporters. In the 1950s,
Khaldey fell victim to Stalin’s persecution of Jews;
he could not work for larger newspapers, and he
had to earn his living by developing other people’s
images and by taking group portraits.
Baltermants is known for recording such im-
portant events as the defeat of the Germans in the
Battle of Moscow, the Battle of Leningrad, and the
battle of Kerch in the Crimea where over 176,000
soldiers were killed. After the war, he became the
official photographer of Soviet leaders such as
Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. He also
worked as photographer and later editor ofOgo-
nyok[Light], a popular Soviet weekly magazine.
American social photojournalist Arthur Roth-
stein’s description of Baltermants’ work effectively
summarizes the work of the best photojournalists
under the conditions of post-war censorship: ‘‘He
managed to produce news photos with aesthetic
appeal.’’ (Mulligan and Wooters 1999).
During the decades between the two world wars,
Czech photographer Josef Sudek (1896–1976) cre-
ated individualistic compositions that both contin-
ued the tradition of pictorialism and employed
elements from the German-based movementNeue
Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) and Surrealism.
Trained as a bookbinder, he lost one of his arms
while fighting in World War I, which caused him to
turn to photography. Sudek’s primary concern was
the expression of his state of mind through light
and shadow. He worked on many series for years,
allowing him to capture precisely the desired level
of light as well as to photograph his subjects fromRUSSIA AND EASTERN EUROPE, PHOTOGRAPHY IN