10 BEST Russian photographers (PHOTOS)
From the Russian Empire and the USSR to modern Russia, these people captured the most important events, people and realities of the country. And they did it in a very talented way.
1. Karl Bulla
Karl Bulla (1855-1929) is frequently called the founding father of Russian photography. In the late 19th century, he opened one of the first photo studios in St. Petersburg, which became famous throughout the country. He was a photo witness of an entire epoch, making the first street photography and, thanks to him, we can today observe Tsarist Russia at its end and see the realities that have been irretrievably lost.
Nicholas II visits Kostroma for the 300-year anniversary of the Romanov House celebration, 1913
Whether it be ordinary Petersburgers or the brightest signs of the times. In addition, he made many photographic portraits of famous personalities, from Leo Tolstoy to Nicholas II.
A military hospital car, 1911
See more photos by Karl Bulla here.
2. Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky
Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky (1863-1944) revolutionized photography, as he was the first in Russia to take color shots. His photographic legacy is invaluable, as having traveled all over the Russian Empire, he captured its sights, nature and people in color.
Peasant girls with berries in a village near Vologda, 1909
Pictures taken by him include ancient churches, the latest industrial facilities for their time, portraits of celebrities, everyday scenes from the lives of ordinary people and much more.
Leo Tolstoy in his Yasnaya Polyana estate, 1908
See more photos by Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky here.
3. Alexander Rodchenko
Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) is perhaps one of the most famous Russian photographers and a true revolutionary in photography. This avant-garde artist experimented a lot, using his portable 35mm camera to take pictures from unusual angles: from above, below and from all sides, showing viewers a new way of looking at familiar things.
Girls with scarves. Sports parade on Red Square, 1935
And he photographed the new Soviet reality – sports parades, the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal – and the new people of the era, like Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lily Brik. The latter was immortalized by him in an advertisement for the ‘Lengiz’ book publishing house (see the portrait above). For him, photography was art and his approach changed the genre forever.
Lilya Brik. Portrait for “Books” Advertising Poster, 1924
Discover main photographs by Alexander Rodchenko here. Portrait (c) Isaak Brodsky/MAMM/MDF/russiainphoto.ru
4. Yevgeny Khaldei
Yevgeny Khaldei (1917-1997) was the most famous Soviet military photo correspondent, who is now considered a classic of military photo newsreels. It was he who captured trench life and showed what it was like to be on the front line.
Victory Banner over the Reichstag, 1945
He both visited the Northern Fleet and documented battles on the Black Sea coast. He made all the way to Berlin with the Soviet troops and took the famous shot known to the whole world – the Victory Banner over the Reichstag.
June 22, 1941. Muscovites listen to radio news about the Nazi Germany invasion
See more photos by Yevgeny Khaldei here. Portrait (c) Vyacheslav Runov/Sputnik
5. Vsevolod Tarasevich
Through Vsevolod Tarasevich’s (1919-1998) photos, one can trace the whole history of the USSR. For 50 years, he made reports from the most diverse corners of the country and portraits of ordinary people, from miners to collective farmers.
From the "Duel” series: physicist Vsevolod Balashov, 1963
It is hard to imagine a story or a milestone of Soviet life that would not have been reflected in his work: both horrors of war and joy of peaceful life, as well as the new professions, children, large construction sites and much more.
Kiss, 1966
See more photos by Vsevolod Tarasevich here. Portrait (c) Yashin/Sputnik
6. Dmitry Baltermants
Images taken on the fronts of World War II, during the Battle of Moscow, at Stalingrad and in Crimea made Dmitry Baltermants (1919-1990) famous. However, Soviet editors were perplexed: "Why do you have half a man there?" and would often refuse to publish the photographer’s unusual shots.
A Moment of Rest, 1943
His unconventional, avant-garde optics, incomprehensible to Soviet party officials, were at the same time in a big demand abroad. He became one of the few Soviet photographers who was recognized worldwide already during his lifetime and his solo exhibitions were held in London and New York.
Master clock of the state, 1964
See more photos by Dmitry Baltermants here. Portrait (c) Nikolai Akimov/TASS
7. Vladimir Lagrange
Vladimir Lagrange (1939-2022) captured the spirit of the Soviet thaw period. In 1959, he became a photo correspondent for TASS, the country’s main news agency. The ‘Khrushchev Thaw’ in politics gave rise to new freedoms in photography (and life), as well.
Doves of peace, 1962
Lagrange refused to take staged, ideologically aligned photos; his pictures are a reportage of real life and a hymn to the everyday.
Dancing twist, 1964
See more photos by Vladimir Lagrange here. Portrait (c) Pavel Smertin/TASS
8. Igor Mukhin
The bold rock’n’roll photos by Igor Mukhin (b. 1961) show the Soviet perestroika, the 1980s and 1990s.
Moscow. Viktor Tsoi, 1986
Viktor Tsoi, Zhanna Aguzarova, Vladimir Sorokin, Boris Grebenshchikov and other faces of the era stare back at us in these shots.
Untitled. Moscow, 1985
Mukhin also revealed a new, informal Moscow that was feeling its first taste of real freedom.
Portrait (c) Sputnik
9. Gueorgui Pinkhassov
Andrei Tarkovsky once saw Gueorgui Pinkhassov’s (b. 1952) photos and was amazed that much that invited the young photographer to shoot a report about the ‘Stalker’ (1979) movie filming process.
Moscow. Kievsky train station, 1995
The photographer himself graduated from Moscow’s prestigious VGIK (Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography) film school and was known as an independent photographer with an unusual vision of the world. Familiar everyday scenes turned into surrealistic works of art in his photos.
Uzbekistan. Tashkent. Market. 1992
In the 1980s, Pinkhassov emigrated and became the only Russian photographer of the legendary Magnum Photo agency. And his work has been published in the most authoritative international publications.
Portrait (c) AFP
10. Sergey Maximishin
Sergey Maximishin (b. 1964) is considered a mastodon of Russian photojournalism right now. He is a multiple winner of the ‘World Press Photo’ contest as well as other various photographic awards. He is a distributor for many of the most authoritative publications, both in Russian and foreign, and teaches the art of photography.
Sergei Maximishin posing with his photograph of Vladimir Putin
In 2007, he published a book of photographs from different parts of the former Soviet republics, tracing what is left of ‘The Last Empire’, i.e. the USSR.
See more photos by Sergey Maximishin here. Portrait (c) Vladimir Smirnov/TASS
