Background 

After WWI, artists in Germany and the USSR began to experiment with an avant-garde technique known as the ‘photo-montage’.

‘Photo-montage’ is the making of a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. These images are then merged together in a way that make it appear like a single image. It is a very general term which allows for a degree of interpretation.

Traditionally a photo-montage often formed part of a larger collage, through the inclusion of other photographs, text, words and even newspaper clippings.

The 1917 Russian Revolution led to the formation of a young Communist state that was celebrated by many artists and intellects, who saw this revolution as an opportunity to end the corruption and poverty that existed in Russia.

Propaganda in the press, literature, radio and visual art was part of the post-revolution process, allowing the government to control and manipulate the public into supporting and tolerating the regime, using creative expression to insight and enlighten. The state increased its control of artists, using fear and threats to ensure the artists used their talents to the benefit of the new regime.

This is certainly the case in the various photo-montage posters which were commissioned by the government in the 1920s, work by artisits including El Lissisky, Alexandder Rodchenko and Vavara Steponavo. In this blog post I will look at how photo-montages at the time, served both as measures of creative expression, as well as regulation and suppression. I will use the work of ‘constructionist’ Vavrara Steponavo to support my findings.

PHOTO-MONTAGE: THE MANIPULATION OF REALITY 

Photo-montages are essentially images which are combined and constructed in a manner which express whatever message the artist wants to convey.  In the USSR, the photo-montage was considered to be the artists interpretation of events, but under strict supervision.

The ‘Five Year Plans’ was a period of extremely radical and supressive measures, which led to extreme poverty and widespread famine. Therefore, what started off as a positive propaganda programme soon became a cover-up of disastrous economic policy.

VAVARA STEPONAVO – PIOONER OF CONSTRUCTIVISM

Vavara Steponavo was a Russian ‘constructivist’ who produced a vast collection of photo-montage posters  throughout her lifetime. The term ‘constructivist’ refers to a trend of art that saw art as a practice for social purposes, instead of just a form of expression. Stepanova, among other such as her husband Alexander Rodchenko, used constructivism to serve the political ideals of the Soviet Union, linking the policies implemented by the regime to the supposed benefit of the people.

By the end of the first ‘Five Year Plan’, the USSR was a leading industrial power. The ‘photo-montage’ was designed by the state to be an ‘ideological image’ which established through visual ‘evidence’, the great success of the plan. This was done by the photographer cutting out newspaper a series of newspaper clippings and sticking them on a large canvas. This can seen as one of the many examples of heavy experimentation during the 1920s in terms of art and what its meaning was.

STEPONAVO …. ‘USSR IN CONSTRUCTION’

‘USSR in Construction’ is a propaganda publication by Stepanavo looking at the various ‘successes’ of industrialisation during the ‘Five Year Plans’. This poster was a foreign publication, designed to show countries such as France and Great Britain of the success of Communist Russia, a nation who were a ‘leading force in the global market and economy’

In this photo-montage, it is apparent that everything is carefully constructed. There are only three types of colour and tone: (different ranges of) black-and-white, and sepia, and the integration of geometrical planes of red to structure the composition. This balance of colour tones ensures that there is a measured range to how the image is viewed.

In this poster the artist has used symbolism to link the visual and written elements of the poster together. Such is apparent through the artists insertion of public address speakers, on a platform with the number 5, symbolising the ‘Five Year Plans’, along with the CCCR (USSR).

The most recognisable aspect of this poster is the large image of Vladimir Lenin, which has been cropped and oversized. The intention of this is to draw emphasis to Lenin in a striking way, to draw the idea to the viewer of his cult like status in contrast to the smaller representation of a crowd of people, indicating ‘mass appreciation’ for this ‘large figure’.

CONCLUSION

I find photo-montages to be very interesting because they are a clever way of photographers working with multiple images to create a response. Photo-montages allow a degree of creativity and are fun and interactive, thus appealing to the audience.

It is clear that during the early period of the Soviet Union, photo-montages, along with the many other experimental forms of art were an exciting and innovative way of the Party and Government drawing public attention towards their ideology. The early photo-montage of Lenin and Stalin speak of hope and prosperity for the future, whilst using clever techniques such as extending the size of the face of the two leaders to represent them in a cult-like, demi god form.

I find that a lot of the Soviet photo-montages look almost a bit like drawings and sketches. They go beyond ‘straight’ or ‘pure’ photography and instead are more abstract and experimental, thus creating this obscured appearance.

A photo-montage is something I could definitely look into creating for my own final outcome, and it is something which would be very fun and experimental to construct.