Photoshop in Soviet style: why and how "extra" people were removed from photos
Photoshop in Soviet style: why and how "extra" people were removed from photos

Video: Photoshop in Soviet style: why and how "extra" people were removed from photos

Video: Photoshop in Soviet style: why and how
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Photoshop in Soviet style: why and how "extra" people were removed from the photos
Photoshop in Soviet style: why and how "extra" people were removed from the photos

All the years of the existence of the Soviet Union, a propaganda machine was actively operating, one of the means of which was photography. Even the images that captured this or that moment of the era were easily changed by order of the "above". The heroes of the revolution were removed both from photographs and from history. One of the main censors was Joseph Stalin, who ruled with an iron fist in the 1920s and 1950s.

Alexander Malchenko is a disappeared revolutionary
Alexander Malchenko is a disappeared revolutionary

Alexander Malchenko was an active revolutionary, known under the pseudonym Cox. He collaborated with Lenin and even got into exile for his activities. After the 1917 revolution, Malchenko retired from politics and began working as an engineer. But the competent authorities have not forgotten about him. In 1929, a former ally of Ulyanov-Lenin was arrested. He was charged with espionage and counter-revolutionary activities, then unjustly convicted and shot. After that Malchenko "disappeared" from the famous photograph of 1897, where he was captured together with Vladimir Ilyich. In all books and magazines, it was printed in a retouched version. Only after the death of Stalin and the rehabilitation of Malchenko, the photograph was again published in its original form.

A retouched photograph from a speech by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, 1920
A retouched photograph from a speech by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, 1920

The famous photograph by Grigory Goldstein in 1920 shows Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov-Lenin speaking to the soldiers. The leader of the revolution stands behind the rostrum, on the right side of which, just below, are Trotsky and Kamenev. A decade later, this photograph was replicated, already retouched, with one Ilyich on the podium.

Leon Trotsky was expelled from the USSR in 1929, and Lev Kamenev was tried and shot in 1936. So Joseph Stalin got rid of honored revolutionaries who competed with him.

Group photo from 1925
Group photo from 1925
The same photo after cropping and retouching
The same photo after cropping and retouching

Often underwent retouching and photographs with Stalin himself. A striking example is a group photo of the participants in the XIV Party Conference of 1925. Of the ten people captured on it, only two died a natural death: Stalin and Klim Voroshilov.

Over the years, a heavily trimmed and retouched version of the photograph was published. Only four remained on it, whose names the whole country knew, and in whose honor cities, streets, steamers were named.

Soviet leaders in Leningrad, 1926
Soviet leaders in Leningrad, 1926

But the most epic image manipulation is a 1926 photograph of five Soviet figures. In the same year, Nikolai Komarov was “erased” from the photograph, and Antipov was “cut out” in 1940. Both of them fell victim to the Stalinist repression of the late 1930s. Later, even Shvernik, loyal to Stalin, disappears from the picture.

In 1926 Nikolay Komarov “disappears” from the group photo
In 1926 Nikolay Komarov “disappears” from the group photo
Stylin, Kirov and Shvernik in the photo after cropping and retouching
Stylin, Kirov and Shvernik in the photo after cropping and retouching
In the final version, only Joseph Stalin and Sergei Kirov remain
In the final version, only Joseph Stalin and Sergei Kirov remain

The leader of the Soviet people left behind a lot photographs and personal belongings, which are of great interest to this day.

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