War & peace through the eyes of Soviet photographer Georgy Zelma (PHOTO)

Born in Tashkent, Georgy Zelma made many work trips to Central Asia as a photographer and became famous throughout the USSR for his photographic evidence of life not only in his native Uzbek SSR, but also in other republics. 

He advocated women’s rights, supported the emancipation of women in the East and actively reported on women’s rallies in Asia. 

During World War II, Zelma was at the front and took pictures for the ‘Izvestia’ newspaper. Many of his shots have become classics of war photography. 

After the war, he continued to collaborate with a variety of Soviet magazines and traveled all over the Union, shooting a wide range of life, from agriculture to fishing and manufacturing.

International Women’s Day, March 8. Tashkent, 1924

In the marriage registry office. Tashkent, 1925

Get rid of the burka! 1925

“At the call of the Komsomol – to the mine!” Female workers at the Gorlovka mine, 1930

Reading an announcement. Uzbek SSR, 1930s

Holiday demonstration on the Red Square, 1931

Stalin speaking at the V8th III All-Union Congress of Soviets, 1936 (photo in collaboration with Mikhail Prechner)

First propeller glider on the Moscow-Volga canal, 1937

Komsomol girl Ganna Pashkova, 1930s

Writer Konstantin Simonov on the Northern Front, 1941

“Stand to the death!” 1942

“Let the soldiers sleep for a while”, 1942

Spring POWs, 1942

Street battles in Stalingrad, Fall 1942

Brothers in arms. Stalingrad, December 1942

German prisoners of war in Stalingrad, 1942

Victory flag over Stalingrad, 1943

An Award to the patriot, 1943

Striking worker Pasha Angelina with members of her brigade in the fields before harvesting, 1945

Spring in the Karakum desert, 1950s

Komsomol lake. Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, 1954

Fisherman. Estonian SSR, 1970s

Factory conveyor belt. Estonian SSR, 1970s

Schoolchildren-pioneers. Kyrgyz SSR, 1970s