By 1937 the state control of photographic images
was almost total. Photos of ‘‘enemies of the peo-
ple’’ were recalled from circulation and reworked
with airbrushes. Photos labeled formalist, like
those of Rodchenko and Boris Ignatovich, were
rarely published. Indeed at this point perhaps
only the international renown of photographers
such as Rodchenko saved them from the tragic
fates that befell other disfavored artists.
Photography proved particularly suited to socialist
realism. Images could be presented in a straightfor-
ward and readily accessible style and easily repro-
duced for purposes of mass propaganda. Favored
images of Socialist Realism included military and
political rallies, sports parades, collective farming,
and work crews on massive industrial projects. Im-
ages of mass meetings and public demonstrations
became nearly obligatory for all photographers.
Other preferred Soviet themes included industrializa-
tion and collectivization, science and technology,
defense and education. These images emphasized the
view that government works could vastly improve
people’s lives. Socialist Realism offered a utopian
vision that masked a reality of massive repression.
By the 1950s the Stalinization of photography
had been firmly established, a model that could
be easily reproduced by the Communist Party lead-
ership following Stalin’s death in 1953. Photos
became a primary means for legitimizing the Soviet
model of progress and history. Retouching and
supportive commentary became methods for
obscuring historical facts as well as the social re-
ality of life in the Soviet Union. Photography
represented not the lived reality of the populace
but rather the social vision and ideas of the totali-
tarian state. Only the ‘‘correct’’ view of life under
Communism could be permitted. Forbidden sub-
jects included any aspect of society that socialism
was supposed to have eliminated, including pov-
erty, social deviance and illegality, the unemployed,
and dissidents. Other forbidden subjects included
environmental pollution, bureaucratic mismanage-
ment, religion, human nudity, and ‘‘anti-social’’
practices such as alcoholism.
Photographers came to produce mass propa-
ganda materials sanctioned by officials of the
state. The debates and contesting approaches of
the 1920s and early 1930s gave way to a techno-
cratic application of specific skills to achieve pre-
determined ends as desired by the state. Individual
or even idiosyncratic images were replaced with
typical cases selected for their appropriateness in
expressing the totalitarian ideology of the state
and party leadership. Public analysis and evalua-
tion of new works became muted and then fell
silent. With the near elimination of creative experi-
mentation and public discussion, the form and con-
tent of photography became circumscribed by
overriding concerns of ideological functionalism.
Tracing the history of photography from this
point on becomes incomplete and fragmentary
because ‘‘incorrect’’ images were refused publica-
tion without public commentary and records of
such photos are not readily available. Many skilled
photographers simply resigned from the field.
Socialist Realism was strongly enforced through-
out the period following the Second World War. Its
enforcement diminished somewhat following Sta-
lin’s death in 1953 but it remained the dominant
approach to art in the Soviet Union until the 1980s.
JeffreyShantz
Seealso: Agitprop; Alpert, Max; Documentary
Photography; Montage; Photography in Russia and
Eastern Europe; Propaganda; Shaikhet, Arkadii;
Worker PhotographyFurther Reading
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Journal. 53 (1994): 43–44.
Bendavid-Val, Leah.Propaganda and Dreams: Photograph-
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Stemmle, 1999.
Carlisle, Olga. ‘‘The Aperture of Memory.’’Aperture 116
(1989): 40–45.
Eerikainen, Hannu. ‘‘Up from Underground.’’Aperture 116
(1989): 56–67.
Mihailovic, Alexandar. ‘‘Armed only with a Camera: An
Interview with Dmitri Baltermants.’’ Aperture 116
(1989): 2–6.
Mrazkova, Daniela. ‘‘Many Nations, Many Voices.’’Aper-
ture116 (1989): 24–33.
Reid, Susan. ‘‘Photography in the Thaw.’’Art Journal 53
(1994): 33–39.
Sartorti, Rosalinde. ‘‘No More Heroic Tractors: Subverting
the Legacy of Socialist Realism.’’Aperture116 (1989):
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Shudakov, Grigori.20 Soviet Photographers, 1917–1940.
Amsterdam: Fiolet and Draaijer Interphoto, 1990.
Shudakov, Grigori, Olga Suslova, and Lilya Ukhtomskaya.
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Hudson, 1983.
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Tupitsyn, Victor. ‘‘The Sun Without a Muzzle.’’Art Journal
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