Soviet ‘Thaw’ Of The 1960s Through The Lens Of Vladimir Lagrange

Happy workers from the staged, ideologically verified photos were replaced by reporting footage of the real life. The quasi thaw in Soviet politics led to a thaw in photography, as well. The official propaganda shots faded into the background and were replaced by vivid moments of real life.

Vladimir Lagrange has been fond of photography since his childhood. Friends, relatives or simply random people have fallen into his lens. In 1959, when he was 20 years old, he started his career as a photojournalist at TASS, the country’s main news agency. The photographer witnessed an entire era of Soviet life. Waxing lyrical about everyday life, he refused to take any staged shots.

“My task was to acquaint the reader with the work of metallurgists, pilots, miners, doctors, farmers … Their life, and to do that truthfully,” he wrote.

h/t: rbth