War photographers. The truth about WWII military photojournalists

Their names are firmly entrenched in the history not only of Russian photography, but also in the history of Soviet journalism. Courage, unshakable faith in victory and dedication - that’s what distinguished each of them when they volunteered to go to the front and, under bullets, created a photographic chronicle of the country. We present an overview of the most famous Soviet photojournalists of the Great Patriotic War.

Max Alpert (1899-1980)

Max Vladimirovich Alpert was born in Simferopol. Together with his brother, Mikhail Alperin, he studied photography in Odessa. After the Civil War, he worked as a photojournalist for Rabochaya Gazeta in Moscow. In the 1920s, he was a member of the association of photo reporters at the Moscow Press House.

In the 1930s, he worked for the illustrated magazine “USSR on Construction,” where he prepared about 50 photo essays. The most important work of this period was done on the construction of a plant in Magnitogorsk (Magnitka), on the laying of Turksib, on the construction of the Great Fergana Canal.

During the Great Patriotic War, as a correspondent for TASS Photo Chronicle and the Sovinformburo, Alpert worked both in the rear and at the front, in combat situations. Alpert is the author of the world-famous work “Combat”, which has become one of the symbols of the war. At the end of the war, he visited Prague and Berlin and filmed the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945 in Moscow. In the post-war years he collaborated in various publications. He was a leading photojournalist for the Novosti press agency.

Many of his works are kept in the collection of negatives of the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia. Considered one of the founders of Soviet serial reportage photography. Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR (1966).

Anatoly Arkhipov (1913-1950)

Anatoly Arkhipovich Arkhipov, originally from Kharkov, worked as a photojournalist for the editorial office of Soviet Ukraine since 1939, then was transferred to Moscow to work for the Illustrated Newspaper. Anatoly Arkhipov took the first photographs of the Great Patriotic War in May 1942 on the Southwestern Front. His photographs were first published in 1942 in the propaganda magazine “Front Illustration”.

Then there was Stalingrad, in the battles for which Arkhipov was wounded in November 1942, the Leningrad Front, the liberation of Eastern Ukraine, the Battle of Kursk, the liberation of Kyiv, Belarus, Poland, and the offensive in Germany. He photographed both ordinary soldiers and military leaders.

Dmitry Baltermants (1912-1990)

After graduating from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University in 1939, Dmitry Baltermants was accepted as a mathematics teacher at the Higher Military Academy with the rank of captain. In the same year he completed his first professional photo report. On instructions from the newspaper Izvestia, he captured the entry of Red Army units into the territory of Western Ukraine. As a result, he was enrolled in the staff of Izvestia and became a professional photojournalist. According to the memoirs of the photographer’s daughter Tatyana Baltermants, before making the fateful decision, Dmitry Baltermants almost did not hesitate and easily abandoned the prospects of a scientific academic career: “It took a little time to think - the soul was already poisoned by photography, all that was left was to pick up a camera.”

Dmitry Nikolaevich Baltermants was a photojournalist for the Izvestia newspaper, filming reports for it about the construction of anti-tank fortifications near Moscow, the defense of Crimea, and the Battle of Stalingrad. In 1942, due to an editor’s mistake (they published a photograph of destroyed not German, but British tanks that were in service with the Red Army), the responsibility for which was assigned to the author of the photo, Baltermants was demoted to the ranks and sent to a penal battalion. As a result of the injury, his leg was amputated. After lying in hospitals until 1944, Dmitry returned to the front as a photojournalist for the army newspaper “To Defeat the Enemy.” For the battles in the city of Breslau on May 16, 1945, Lieutenant Colonel I. Volkov again nominated Senior Lieutenant Baltermants for the award - the Order of the Patriotic War, II degree.

Returning from the front, Dmitry Baltermants did not immediately find work. Only the poet Alexey Surkov, editor-in-chief of the Ogonyok magazine, was not afraid to hire Baltermants. In this magazine, having headed its photo department in 1965, Dmitry Baltermants worked until his death.

During the years of Khrushchev's "thaw" Dmitry Baltermants experienced the peak of his popularity. At this time, Soviet amateur photographers were able to see many “archival”, unpublished front-line works of the master, which captured not only the feat, but death, grief and the hardships of war. The photographer became famous abroad - Dmitry Baltermants' personal exhibitions in London (1964) and New York (1965) made him a world celebrity.

Natalia Bode (1914-1996)

She was born on December 17 (December 30), 1914 in Kyiv in the family of a technical school teacher. In 1934, she worked as a photojournalist for the ShchKPU newspaper “Kommunist”. In 1938, she moved to TASS Photo Chronicle in Ukraine. In 1941, she volunteered to work for the front-line newspaper of the Southwestern Front, “Red Army,” and worked with it until the end of the war. Filmed on the Southwestern, Central, and 1st Belorussian fronts. She was constantly published in the central newspapers “Pravda”, “Krasnaya Zvezda”, the magazine “Ogonyok” and the foreign press (through the Sovinformburo). She finished the war with the rank of senior lieutenant.

After the war, in 1945, Detizdat published a book of photographs, “On the Roads of War,” which received an award. Participated in many all-Union and international photo exhibitions. Since 1945 she lived in Moscow. She worked as a Moscow correspondent for the Ukrainian newspaper Radyanska Kultura.

Robert Diament (1907-1987)

Robert (Iosif-Raphael) Lvovich Diament served in the Northern Fleet during the Great Patriotic War as a photojournalist and head of the photo bureau of the Fleet Political Directorate. After demobilization, he worked under contracts at the All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition, carried out tasks for the Anti-Fascist Committee of Soviet Women, the editorial office of the magazine “Club and Amateur Arts”, the magazines “Vocational Education” and “Industrial Training”, his photographs were published in the magazines: “Ogonyok”, “Soviet Union”, “ Soviet photo”, “Health”, “Working woman”, “Behind the wheel”, etc., on the pages of photo albums, were exhibited in military museums in Moscow, Kyiv, Leningrad, Murmansk, Polyarny, Severomorsk, etc.

For the sake of doing the work of a photojournalist, he sacrificed his health - when filming a salvo of the main caliber of the cruiser on which he was, Diament did not cover his ear, since his finger was on the camera trigger. As a result, he was shell-shocked and almost deaf in his left ear.

His photographs are the most detailed chronicle of the life of North Sea warriors: sailors, marines, pilots. He went out with submariners to torpedo enemy ships, ensured the safety of allied convoys on destroyers, took part in the landing and in the battles of the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation, and flew out with torpedo bomber pilots. Member of the Union of Journalists of the USSR since 1967.

(1911–1984)

The world-famous classic of Soviet photography.

Born in 1911 in Rostov-on-Don. In the late 30s he worked as a freelance correspondent for TASS Press Cliché. Since 1933 he has been working at TASS Photo Chronicle. In 1934 he moved to Moscow, where he got the opportunity to film the main events of the era: the Congress of the Comintern and the Congress of Soviets, at which the Constitution was adopted; construction, Arctic expeditions and sports parades. He photographed Maxim Gorky, Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin; famous pilots - V. Chkalov, M. Gromov, outstanding cultural and artistic figures.

During the war he filmed on many fronts. The most famous photographs were taken in Stalingrad. He took part in the liberation of the cities of Minsk, Warsaw, Koenigsberg, ended the war in Prague, and was awarded two Orders of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War, II degree, and USSR medals. Filmed the liberation of Donbass, Minsk, Warsaw, Konigsberg, Prague. The Stalingrad series of his photographs became especially famous.

After the war, while working at TASS, E. Evzerikhin taught the basics of photography at the Correspondence People's University of Arts and gave lectures around the country.

Emmanuel Evzerikhin died in 1984.

Georgy Zelma (1906-1984)

Georgy Anatolyevich Zelma (real name Zelmanovich) was born in 1906 in Tashkent. In 1921 he moved to Moscow, where he began taking photographs with an old Kodak 9x12 camera. He gained his first photography experience in the Proletkino studio and during theater rehearsals for the Theater magazine. He continued to work at the Russfoto agency, where he came as an apprentice photographer and soon began working independently.

Photojournalist for Izvestia, Ogonyok, Krasnaya Zvezda and other publications in the 1920s and 30s, military photojournalist for the Izvestia newspaper. He worked on the front lines in Moldova, Odessa and Ukraine.

His most famous photographs were taken during the Battle of Stalingrad, where the photographer chronicled the battle for the city. After the war, Georgy Zelma worked at the Ogonyok magazine, and since 1962 at the Novosti agency.

Boris Ignatovich (1899-1979)

Boris Vsevolodovich Ignatovich was born in Lutsk. Journalist since 1918. In 1921 he moved to Moscow, where he headed the Gornyak newspaper. In 1922–1925 in Petrograd he became interested in photography. After returning to Moscow, he became one of the leaders of the Association of Photo Reporters at the House of Press, from 1927 he was a bill editor and photojournalist for the newspaper “Bednota”, and collaborated in the magazines “Narpit”, “Prozhektor”, “Ogonyok”, “Soviet Photo” and “USSR at Construction”.

Together with Alexander Rodchenko, he is one of the organizers and head of the Oktyabr Group.

In the 1930s. became interested in film reporting, made several documentaries (the film essay “Today” and a film about the Kukryniksy, etc.). At the same time, he headed the illustration department of the newspaper “Evening Moscow”.

During the Great Patriotic War, he worked as a photojournalist in the newspaper of the 30th Army “Battle Banner”. He worked behind enemy lines, filming the partisan movement.

After the war, he worked in many magazines and publishing houses, and headed the Novator club. He created portraits of cultural and artistic figures (Korney Chukovsky, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Boris Pasternak, etc.). Awarded USSR medals. Author of the famous photo of Stalin and Nakhangova.

Boris Kudoyarov (1898-1973)

Boris Pavlovich Kudoyarov was born in 1898 in Tashkent. He graduated from the pre-revolutionary gymnasium. In 1917-1920 he served in the Red Army. Being an amateur photographer, he began to actively photograph sporting events. In 1925, he began working as a photo reporter for the magazine “Physical Culture and Sports”, from 1926 he worked for the Russfoto agency, later - Unionfoto, and from 1931 - a photo correspondent for the Soyuzfoto agency. He specialized in sports subjects, and also created a “photo chronicle of the industrialization and collectivization of the country.” In 1932, during the celebration of the First of May, from a P-5 plane he photographed Red Square with columns of demonstrators, the design of Metrostroy, the Palace of Labor, Sverdlovsk Square with giant portraits in the middle. In the same year, on a business trip to enterprises in the Nizhny Novgorod region, I took photographs of the Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant, Sormovo, Vyksinsky Plant, port and other objects.

During the Great Patriotic War, he was a photojournalist for Komsomolskaya Pravda in besieged Leningrad, during which time he took about 3,000 photographs, many of which were included in the golden fund of Soviet journalism and photography. The Leningrad cycle of B. Kudoyarov became a classic of military photo reporting. In the post-war years he worked as a photojournalist for Komsomolskaya Pravda. He died on a creative trip to Central Asia in 1973 in a car accident.

Mark Markov-Grinberg (1907-2006)

Mark Borisovich Markov-Grinberg in 1925 became a photojournalist for the Rostov newspaper “Soviet South” and a freelance correspondent for the magazine “Ogonyok”. And in 1926 he moved to Moscow. Worked for the magazine "Smena". From 1930 he worked at TASS, and in September 1941 he was sent to the front as a simple private. Only in July 1943 was he sent by the army’s political department as a correspondent for the army newspaper “The Word of a Fighter.”

After the war, he served with the rank of captain as a photojournalist for the Krasnoarmeyskaya Illustrated Newspaper. After the war, he served with the rank of captain as a photojournalist at the Krasnoarmeyskaya Illustrated Newspaper.

Honorary member of the Union of Photographers of Russia. M. Markov-Grinberg did not live just a year before his centenary.

Mark Redkin (1908-1987)

Mark Stepanovich Redkin was born in the city of Astrakhan in 1908 in the family of a sailor. In his youth he worked at a ship repair plant as a welder. In 1932 he graduated from the Leningrad Film and Photo Technical College. In 1933 he was called up for military service. In 1934 he began taking photographs for newspapers. From 1934 to 1941 he worked for the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper. During the war, he was a photojournalist for TASS, as well as for the Front Illustration newspaper. Was acquainted with A. S. Shaikhet and Y. N. Khalip.

In 1934–1941 he was a photojournalist for the newspaper of the Leningrad Military District and the Baltic Fleet "Red Star", TASS photo chronicle. Filmed on many fronts. After the victory over Germany, he filmed the war with Japan. In the post-war period, he was a correspondent for TASS photo chronicles, the Soviet Union magazine, and the Planeta publishing house.

(1913-1986)

Born in 1913 in Kharkov. Graduated from the working faculty of Kharkov University; collaborated with the Kharkov newspaper “Evening Radio”. Since 1936 - photojournalist for the republican newspaper "Communist", the organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he was a photojournalist for the Pravda newspaper on the Southwestern Front. Later he photographed on different fronts, the most famous are his photographs taken in the battle for Stalingrad. Participated as a photo reporter in the liberation of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, and Hungary. Filmed the fighting in Berlin.

In the post-war years he worked for the newspapers Pravda, Soviet Russia, the magazine Ogonyok, and the publishing house Kolos. He has published several author's photo albums. Awarded orders and medals.

Died in Moscow in 1986.

Mikhail Savin (1915-2006)

Mikhail Ivanovich Savin was born in 1915. Since 1939 he worked at TASS Photo Chronicle. In the active army since June 1941. Military photojournalist, senior lieutenant. As a front-line photojournalist, he went through the entire war from the first to the last day. During the war he was awarded medals “For Courage” and “For Victory over Germany.” From 1946 to 1992, one of the leading photojournalists for Ogonyok magazine.

Author of photo albums, participant in many photography exhibitions, especially those dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. He was interested in painting. Lives in Moscow. from March 1941 he worked for the newspaper of the Western Military District "Krasnoarmeyskaya Pravda".

Filmed the retreat in Belarus, the battles near Smolensk, the battle for Moscow, on the Kursk Bulge, the liberation of Lithuania, the offensive in East Prussia. Filmed the surrender of German troops in East Prussia and the Baltic. Since 1945, Mikhail Savin worked as a photojournalist for the Ogonyok magazine.

Sergei Strunnikov (1907-1944)

Sergei Nikolaevich Strunnikov was born in 1907 in Moscow into the family of an artist. In 1926 he graduated from high school and began working as a poster putter in a Moscow cinema. A year later he entered the State Film College (later - the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography). As a student, in 1929 he independently made a documentary film about the work of the geological exploration party “Fuel Exploration”. In the spring of 1930, he completed a technical school course and began working at the Mezhrabpomfilm studio in the group of the famous director V. Pudovkin. At the same time he began publishing photographs in the central press.

He voluntarily joined the Red Army and worked for a year in the army newspaper. Since 1932 - photojournalist for the newspaper Pravda.

In 1933, he participated in a polar expedition on the icebreaker Krasin as a photojournalist for the Main Northern Sea Route. He reported from the Five-Year Plan construction sites in Central Asia and Transcaucasia.

In 1940, the 10th anniversary of his photojournalism was celebrated with a personal exhibition at the Central House of Journalists. Since 1941 - military photojournalist for Pravda. His photograph “Zoya,” taken near Moscow in January 1942, gained worldwide fame. Filmed near Odessa, Tula, in besieged Leningrad, in the Kharkov direction, in Stalingrad. He died in June 1944 during an enemy air raid on an airfield near Poltava.

(1919-1998)

Vsevolod Sergeevich Tarasevich began publishing photographs in the newspapers Smena and Leningradskaya Pravda while still studying at the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute. Since 1940, he has been a photojournalist for LenTASS photo chronicles. Since the beginning of the war, he has been a photojournalist for the political department of the North-Western and then Leningrad fronts.

The most significant work of the war period is a series of photographs “Leningrad in the Siege” (1941–1943).

After the end of the war, he collaborated with the newspaper “Evening Leningrad” for three years. After moving to Moscow, he worked as a photojournalist for VDNKh, for the magazines “Soviet Union”, “Soviet Woman”, “Ogonyok”. Since 1961, he has been a photojournalist for the Novosti press agency. One of the first Soviet photographers to start shooting in color (1954–1955), works from this period were included in the exhibition “Primrose” (Photobiennale 2008).

In the 70s, he was the dean of the photojournalism department of the Institute of Journalistic Excellence at the Moscow organization of the Union of Journalists.

Victor Temin (1908-1987)

Viktor Antonovich Temin was born on October 21 (November 3), 1903 in Tsarevokokshaisk (now Yoshkar-Ola, Mari-El Republic) in the family of a clergyman. I took my first photograph in Menzelinsk when I was still a schoolboy.

In 1922, he began working as a correspondent for the newspaper Izvestia TatTSIK. In 1929, on the instructions of the editors of “Red Tataria”, Viktor Antonovich photographed Maxim Gorky who arrived in Kazan. At the meeting, the writer gave the correspondent a portable Leica camera.

In the 1930s, V. A. Temin filmed a number of significant events: the first expedition to the North Pole, the epic rescue of the Chelyuskinites, the flights of V. P. Chkalov, A. V. Belyakov and G. F. Baidukov, the first flight of female pilots to aircraft "Rodina", expeditions to the Arctic on the icebreakers "Taimyr", "Murmansk", "Ermak", "Sadko". He took part in the battles on Lake Khasan, Khalkhin Gol, and in the Soviet-Finnish War (1939–1940).

During the Great Patriotic War, V. A. Temin, as a front-line correspondent, visited different fronts. At noon on May 1, 1945, I photographed the Victory Banner from the Po-2 plane. This photograph was promptly delivered to the editorial office of Pravda. The photo “Victory Banner over the Reichstag” was published by newspapers and magazines in dozens of countries around the world.

Awarded three Orders of the Red Star, Orders of the Patriotic War I and II degrees, and medals. Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR.

Mikhail Trakhman (1918 - 1976)

Mikhail Anatolyevich Trakhman was born in Moscow and became interested in photography during his school years. The first photographs were published in Moscow newspapers in the late 30s.

In 1938, he became a photojournalist for the Teacher's Newspaper. In 1939 he was drafted into the Red Army and took part in the Soviet-Finnish War.

During the Great Patriotic War, Mikhail Anatolyevich was a photojournalist for the Sovinformburo and worked for the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper. His most famous war photographs are from the partisan series. After the war, he worked for the magazine Ogonyok and as a photojournalist at VDNKh. Awarded the Order of the Red Star.

David Trachtenberg (1906–1980)

David Mikhailovich Trakhtenberg began working in Leningrad; He was an artist by training and often used photography in his work, then he began to take pictures himself. In the late 1930s, he became a photojournalist for Leningradskaya Pravda. During the war, he kept a detailed photo chronicle of the siege of his native city. He is the author of the unique photo series “Breakthrough of the Leningrad Siege.”

After the war, books by David Trachtenberg were published about that great tragedy, of which he was an eyewitness, witness and participant, becoming its chronicler. In the post-war period, he continued to work for the Leningradskaya Pravda newspaper and, on instructions from a number of publishing houses in Moscow and Leningrad, photographed books and albums.

Georgy Ugrinovich (1910-1989)

Georgy Ivanovich Ugrinovich was born in 1910 in Dnepropetrovsk. Worked in the magazine "Ukraine" in Kyiv.

During the Great Patriotic War, he served as a TASS war correspondent for Ukraine and took a large number of photographs dedicated to the liberation of Ukraine from the German invaders.

After the end of the war, he worked as a freelance correspondent for the Mystetstvo publishing house.

Partisan reconnaissance officer of the Chernigov formation “For the Motherland” Vasily Borovik against a background of trees. Photo: Georgy Ugrinovich

Alexander Ustinov (1909-1995)

Born in 1909 in Moscow. A graduate of the cinematography department of the Institute of Cinematography, he collaborated with the newspapers Gudok, Mechanical Engineering, Krasnaya Zvezda, Illustrated Newspaper, and Ogonyok magazine. In 1938, on the instructions of Ogonyok, he filmed his famous photo report about the preparation of the flight of the crew of the Rodina aircraft, which made a non-stop flight from Moscow to the Far East.

Since the mid-thirties, Alexander Vasilyevich worked as a photojournalist for the newspapers “Red Warrior” and “Red Star”. During the war he was a front-line photojournalist for the newspaper Pravda. He photographed the famous parade on November 7, 1941 in Moscow, the battles on the Volkhov, Western, Southwestern, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Bryansk, 1st, 2nd, 4th Ukrainian fronts.

Filmed the actions of partisan formations behind enemy lines, the meeting of Soviet and American troops on the Elbe on April 25, 1945. After the war he continued to work as a correspondent for the newspaper Pravda.

Vasily Fedoseev (1913-1973)

Vasily Gavrilovich Fedoseev - photojournalist for LenTASS since 1939. He took part in the war with Finland.

During the Great Patriotic War, he filmed the besieged Leningrad; the author of a large number of photographs capturing the everyday life of besieged Leningrad, the heroism of its citizens, their work and life.

After the war, he worked at the Sovinformburo and at the LenTASS photo chronicle; participant and laureate of all-Union photo exhibitions.

(1917-1997)

Evgeniy Ananyevich Khaldei was born in Yuzovka (now Donetsk). During the Jewish pogrom on March 13, 1918, his mother and grandfather were killed, and the one-year-old child himself received a bullet wound in the chest.

At the age of 13 he began working at a factory. I took my first photo at the age of 13 with a homemade camera. At the age of 16 he began working as a photojournalist. Since 1939 he has been a correspondent for TASS Photo Chronicle. Filmed Dneprostroy, reports about Alexei Stakhanov. Represented the TASS editorial office on the naval front during the Great Patriotic War. He spent all 1418 days of the war with a Leica camera from Murmansk to Berlin.

He filmed the Paris meeting of foreign ministers, the defeat of the Japanese in the Far East, the conference of the heads of the Allied powers in Potsdam, the hoisting of the flag over the Reichstag, the signing of the act of surrender of Germany. At the age of 18 he began working as a photojournalist, and from 1939 he represented TASS Photo Chronicle. Filmed Dneprostroy, reports about Alexei Stakhanov. He went through the Great Patriotic War from the first to the last day, taking a huge number of photographs, many of which became famous (including one of the symbols of Victory - the photo “Victory Banner over the Reichstag”).

Participated in the liberation of Sevastopol, the assault on Novorossiysk, Kerch, the liberation of Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Austria, and Hungary. He took series of photographs about the life of North Sea residents and sailors of the Black Sea Fleet, the Paris Conference of Foreign Ministers, the defeat of the Japanese in the Far East, the conference of the heads of the Allied powers in Potsdam, the hoisting of the flag over Reistag, the signing of the act of surrender of Germany, the Nuremberg trials.

In 2014, his Leica was sold at Bonhams auction for $200,000.

Nikolay Khandogin (1909-1989)

Since 1935, Nikolai Ivanovich Khandogin worked in the editorial office of the Leningrad front-line newspaper “On Guard of the Motherland.”

Filmed the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. After the German attack on the Soviet Union, he was appointed war photographer of the Leningrad Front.

He photographed events in the Leningrad region, Estonia and Karelia, the siege of Leningrad.

After the war, Khandogin continued to work in the editorial office of the newspaper “On Guard of the Motherland”, as well as in the popular magazines “Soviet Union” and “Ogonyok”.

Ivan Shagin (1904-1982)

Ivan Shagin was born in the Yaroslavl region in 1904. When the future photographer was 12 years old, his father died, and a large peasant family was left with very meager means of subsistence. The mother got her son a job as a “boy” in the shop of a Moscow merchant. Here, while running errands, Ivan Shagin learned to read and write and gained worldly experience. He returned to the village again only in 1919, when after the revolution the shop, like many others, closed.

The 17-year-old boy was forced to go to work and got a job as a sailor at the Volga river shipping company. After a short time, the future photographer changed jobs again. This time he was accepted as an auxiliary worker in a “Nepman” store - that is, practically in his specialty. Here the young man stayed and in two years “grew” to become an assistant store director, and then an instructor at a government demonstration store-school.

In the 1920s, he joined a circle at the newspaper “Our Life”, where he learned the basics of photo reporting. Soon his first photographs were already published in publications published under the auspices of the Selkhozgiz concern, and Shagin left his job as a salesman for a career as a photographer. In 1930, Ivan Shagin began collaborating with the newspapers “Our Life” and “Cooperative Life” of the Selkhozgiz publishing house.

A photojournalist for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, during the Great Patriotic War Shagin worked as a military photojournalist, filming from the first to the last day - from the announcement of the German attack on the Soviet Union and work in the rear to the signing of the surrender in Berlin in May 1945.

(1898-1959)

Arkady Samoilovich Shaikhet was born on August 28 (September 9), 1898 in Nikolaev (now Ukraine) into a Jewish family. In 1922–1924 he worked as a retoucher in private photography in Moscow. Since 1924, he collaborated in magazines (“Ogonyok”, “USSR in Construction”, “Our Achievements”), creating in his reports a photo chronicle of the first five-year plans.

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, he photographed a lot at the front as a correspondent for the newspaper “Front Illustration”. He photographed military actions on various fronts, including near Moscow, near Stalingrad, on the Kursk Bulge, and during the capture of Berlin.

In the post-war years he again worked for the magazine Ogonyok.

Materials used in preparing the review

66 years old, New York:

If you photograph war honestly, you end up with anti-war photography.

The truth does not need to be embellished. You just need to say it, and often it is enough to do it once.

Fear is such a fundamental emotion that it is difficult to define. But I can tell you what it does to people. If it paralyzes you, it can kill you. But if it makes you more aware of what's going on around you, it can save your life.

Of course, I never considered myself invulnerable to bullets and shells. My feet are full of shrapnel.

If I could travel back in time and photograph any war? Crusades. The chances of survival would be slim. The scale and means by which wars were fought back then are astounding. The Battle of Hastings would seem simply incredible to a modern observer. And the battles of Alexander the Great, when people fought face to face? It is difficult to understand how they could be forced to do this.

Humanity, of course, has greatly advanced. But in many respects we are still at a very low stage of development, when violence becomes a tool to achieve certain goals. I don't know when we'll get rid of this... if we get rid of it at all.

The main weapons used during the Rwandan genocide were agricultural tools. Machete. Clubs. Axes. Peaks. Face to face. Crowds of helpless people were dying. Children. This is not clear to me. I know it happened. I have seen the consequences and I know that it was all due to fear and hatred. But I don’t understand how it is possible to force so many people to commit such atrocities, as they say, openly. A bomb can kill many people, but it is very impersonal. In Alexander's time, at least, armed men fought armed men. There was some kind of equality. But using weapons against defenseless people is something I just can’t wrap my head around.

I think now I'm not at all the same person I was at the very beginning. I don't even remember what I was like.

If at some point only I can influence the outcome of events, then I stop being a reporter for a while and help people. Several people who were about to be lynched survived because I intervened. I once tried to save a man in Indonesia. People from a mosque in Jakarta were offended that Christians had set up a bingo hall next to the mosque. They believed that bingo was a game of chance, which was against their religious beliefs. Therefore, they attacked the hall and began to kill the Christian guards. When I asked passers-by what happened, one guard ran down the street with a crowd chasing him. I tried to stop the crowd from killing him. Three times they actually stopped. One of them wanted to cut the guard’s throat, but then I knelt down and began to beg him not to do this. And he obeyed. He lowered the knife and helped the guard up. But then the crowd attacked me with threats. They pressed on me and pushed me back. At this time, the others finished off the guard. I think if one of them had hit me, they would have dealt with me at the same time. Then I started taking pictures of the guard again, but they didn’t care. They allowed me to take photographs. But stop yourself - no.

I don't think religion was the cause of most of the conflicts I've reported on. Territories - yes. Or power. Or something else. And religion is only the channel in which they develop.

I'm wearing a blue-gray shirt now, but I would never wear it in a war zone. She may seem like she's in the military. Raise questions. I like to wear white because it keeps me cool and I go to very hot places. Plus, it's a neutral color. It makes you blend in more with your surroundings.

If you want to get in touch with people who are in great grief, who are afraid, who are in despair, you need to do this in a special way. I move a little slow. I speak a little slowly. I let them know that I treat them with respect. By the way you look at people, they can see how good your intentions are. All these little things are noticed by those into whose lives you want to penetrate.

To be in battle, to hear bullets whizzing past your head, to hear shells exploding around you, and to come out of there unharmed is, of course, in a sense very exciting. You experience a powerful rush of adrenaline. But that's not why I do my business. As far as I know, among serious war correspondents there are no such crazy people who go there for the thrill.

There is nothing wrong with ambition in itself. But in a dangerous situation, it can affect your ability to think straight.

I'm half deaf. I have bad nerves and my ears are constantly ringing, and sometimes I don’t hear anything at all. I probably became deaf because I didn't put earplugs in my ears. Because what I really wanted to hear was. You want to achieve the maximum intensity of sensations - even if they are too painful.

My work gives very little idea of ​​what it is like to be there.

Hunger and disease are the most ancient weapons of mass destruction. When fields are burned and animals are killed, people become vulnerable. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in Somalia using these methods.

Most often, my dreams are not related to what I saw in different places, but to the feelings that I experienced there. I wouldn't like to say anything more about my dreams.

I returned from France on September 10, at about eleven in the evening, and didn’t even bother unpacking my bags: the next day I was leaving again. This morning I was drinking coffee, and suddenly there was a sharp, loud sound outside. The sound was strange and I didn’t understand what it was. I looked out the window and saw the first skyscraper on fire. At first I thought the fire was due to an accident. Of course, I became curious and started unpacking the cameras to go there and take a closer look. But then I heard a second similar sound and saw the second tower catch fire. Then I realized that this was a terrorist attack. And I had a strong suspicion that Osama bin Laden was behind this.

My apartment is near the World Trade Center, I got there in about ten minutes. And again, as always, I ran to the place where everyone else was running. When the North Tower began to fall, I was already standing right under it. The roar was like a waterfall. I looked up and an avalanche of glass and steel was crashing down on me. It was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. In a way it was beautiful and I really wanted to take pictures. But I realized that I didn’t have time. It was as if I found myself in hyperspace. There was so much information to absorb, so many decisions to make, so many distances to overcome... It all seems incredible now. I had only a few seconds to hear it, see it, understand that I wouldn’t have time to take a picture, look around for cover and get to it. I noticed that the entrance to the Millennium Hotel was open and rushed into the lobby. It was glazed, I understood that it would be blown to smithereens and I needed to make my way further. I rushed to the elevators, saw an open cabin, jumped in and pressed my back against the wall. At this moment, everything around was shrouded in darkness.

The darkness was complete and absolute. I only knew I was still alive because I was suffocating. I was coughing and gasping for air in the middle of a giant cloud that the whole world could see outside. Then I got down on all fours and crawled - I moved by touch in the dark, sometimes raising my voice to check if there were any wounded nearby. But there was silence all around. Finally I saw flashes, not very bright. At first I couldn't figure out what it could be. But then I realized that it was cars flashing their turn signals, and I realized that I had gotten out into the street. I still didn’t really see anything, but I began to somehow get my bearings and turned north. After some time, light began to seep through the darkness, and I followed this light.

I never part with my cameras. The police tried to kick everyone out of the scene, but I spent the whole day there filming, all the time expecting to be kicked out.

Now one photo touches me to the quick. What was the World Trade Center was reduced to a pile of metal. There is no sky - only dust and smoke. This is a real apocalypse. The picture shows a very small figure of a fireman: he is looking for something in the ruins. But there is no point in describing it in words. All the power is in the picture.

I shot as long as there was enough light and film, until about half past nine. Then he took the film to Time magazine. It was definitely one of the hardest working days of my life. I had to walk several miles to get home. All of Manhattan south of 14th Street was closed. There was no light. Planes flew overhead. There were National Guard soldiers everywhere. There were cordons almost every block. Acrid fumes hung in the air. When I got home, there was no electricity or hot water. I lit the candles - a story very familiar to me. I was in a war zone. Only the war came to our home.

I don’t think it’s possible to retire in our profession.

I've never won the lottery, and I'm not very lucky as a photographer. But I’m lucky in the main thing: I’m still alive. Because I take risks every day. Compared to this, any other luck is nonsense.

How do I stay optimistic? Very simple. People who find themselves in similar situations still never give up hope. If they still have hope, why should I lose it?

Since the time of Robert Capa, the speed of information exchange has increased significantly, and military conflicts themselves have completely transformed. But the essence of war photography remains the same: you have to get as close as possible and still be alive, you have to make the tragedy speak, imbue it with emotion and artistic value, you have to empathize while remaining objective.

FURFUR profiles ten photographers covering modern military conflicts.

“The worst emotional situation for any photographer is when he makes eye contact with someone he's photographing and realizes that there really is absolutely nothing he can do to help him.”

Javier Manzano moved with his family from Mexico to the United States at age 18, so it is not surprising that drug wars and events near the Mexican-American border occupy a special place in his reporting. In 2011, he received his first World Press Photo prize for a photograph from the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, one of the most crime-prone cities in the world, and a year later he went to photograph the war in Syria. The result of this trip is two major photographic stories, awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

“War is worse than drugs. At some point it turns into a terrible journey, into a nightmare, but then, as soon as the danger subsides, there is an irresistible desire to go back and get even more.

Since childhood, Remi Oschlik dreamed of becoming a war photographer, and at the age of 20 he managed to fulfill his dream. In 2004, he went to film the political crisis in Haiti, and when he returned, he received the François Chalet Prize for it. Oshlik continued to film in extreme conditions: demonstrations in his native France, Haiti, engulfed in a cholera epidemic, and Arab conflicts. He knew very well the great Robert Capa’s maxim that closeness to the subject lies a good shot. However, the habit of being at the center of events played a cruel joke on him, and on February 22, 2012, Oshlik died during the bombing of Homs.

James Nachtwey

“I'm half deaf. My nerves are damaged and my ears are constantly ringing, and sometimes I can’t hear anything at all. I probably became deaf because I didn't put earplugs in my ears. All because I wanted to hear.”

James Nachtwey is one of the most famous photographers of our time. He began his career back in 1976 and since then has visited hot spots around the world, received the Robert Capa Gold Medal five times, was recognized twice by World Press Photo, was a member of the famous Bang Bang Club, and also became the protagonist of a documentary film War Photographer. In 2003, the already middle-aged James Nachtwey was wounded during an attack on a military convoy in Baghdad, but managed to recover quite quickly. Nachtwey is generally an amazing example of a successful career as a war photographer: he is famous, his photographs are in demand, he is 65 years old, and he is still alive.

“The work of a photojournalist has changed a lot today. Now he increasingly films not on the front line, but somewhere in the depths.”

The example of photographer Denis Sinyakov is indicative: danger awaited him while filming military conflicts, but overtook him in the peaceful Pechora Sea. On September 19, 2013, he was detained along with the crew of the Arctic Sunrise vessel for an action near the Prirazlomnaya platform. And although Sinyakov performed only his duties as a photographer, he was charged with piracy (now classified as hooliganism) and two months in a pre-trial detention center.

On the photographer’s personal website you can find reports from the Georgian-Russian and Lebanese-Israeli conflicts, footage of the activities of the medical evacuation team (Medevac) in Afghanistan and much more.

In addition, Denis Sinyakov is known for filming the concert of the punk group Pussy Riot, the preparation and the “I’ll steal for Putin” campaign by the Femen group, as well as the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. However, Sinyakov’s portfolio includes not only political topics: he photographed the life of the Nenets, forest fires, residents of the ghost village of Muslimovo and much more. Recently, the photographer has been paying much attention to his project Changing Face of Russia, in which he touched upon such a complex topic as the migration of citizens from the countries of the former USSR to Russia.

Zoria Miller

“To become a photojournalist, any equipment capable of taking a photograph is sufficient, including cell phones with cameras, disposable cameras, or simply low-budget cameras. I started my career with a regular 6 megapixel camera and you can still see those images in my portfolio.”

American photographer Zoria Miller has a special interest in photographs of military conflicts. At one time he worked for the Red Cross and participated in volunteer programs to assist third world countries. Today he tries to pay special attention to various foundations and humanitarian organizations. The specific beauty and expressiveness of some shots can compete even with the legendary landing in Normandy performed by Robert Capa.

“I went to Slovenia, the first republic to take the path of secession, after I read a short article in the newspaper about national movements and a possible war. I ended up spending about five years between 1991 and 2001 documenting how the country dissolved through various wars.”

A war correspondent originally from the United States began filming armed conflicts back in the late 1980s, and his finest hour came during the Yugoslav wars. His reports captured dramatic episodes of the Battle of Vukovar and the siege of Sarajevo, as well as the activities of the famous Serbian formation "Arkan Tigers". It was while photographing the “tigers” that Haviv took the famous photograph in the Bosnian city of Bijeljina. This photograph became one of the symbols of the Yugoslav War in general and war crimes in particular. It showed a soldier from the Arkan Tigers kicking the body of one of the civilians his comrades had just killed.

Haviv continued his photographic activity after Yugoslavia. He has photographed the drug wars in Mexico, the civil war in Sri Lanka, a photo report on the consequences of the Russian-Georgian conflict, as well as the war of criminal gangs in Los Angeles.

“Often we hide behind cameras so as not to feel anything. Then we think: this works, but this doesn’t, this touches, but this doesn’t, this may attract attention. It's like we turn to stone. And when you get home or get to the hotel and start editing the pictures, you start to feel everything that happened during the day.”

The Spaniard Manu Brabo successfully completed his studies in the art of photography in Oviedo and Madrid, after which he found himself in the glorious business of a war correspondent and became part of the Associated Press agency.

This year he won the Pulitzer Prize for his photograph from besieged Aleppo, where he captured an incredibly powerful and tragic image of a father holding his dying son in his arms. Particular attention should be paid to his reports from Libya, which were given to Brabo with great difficulty, since in April 2011 the Libyan army took the photographer into custody, keeping him in custody for more than a month.

“Every conflict leaves indelible traces, scars that you carry within yourself. What remains is the grief and pain of mothers who lost their children during the bombings, the tears of happiness of the people who freed themselves from dictatorship, the thousands of civilians who leave their homes in search of safety, the people you meet along the way, with whom talking and sharing a piece of your life..."

Bucciarelli began his career as a photojournalist only four years ago, but today he has already been awarded two major photo competitions (second prize World Press Photo 2013, third place Sony World Photo Award 2013), as well as publications in world-famous publications (The Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and La Repubblica).

The Italian received an engineering degree from the Polytechnic University of Turin, worked in his specialty for about a year, and then radically changed his occupation. In 2009, he went to Turkey and Iran to film, but became famous only after returning home. On April 6, 2009, a powerful earthquake began, which practically wiped out the city of L'Aquila, the capital of the Abruzzo region. After taking pictures of the consequences of this terrible tragedy, Bucciarelli became known in the world of photography.

Later, with the beginning of the Jasmine Revolution and the war in Libya, he was able to express himself in war photography. Today Bucciarelli is a recognized master of his craft, the author of the book “The Smell of War” and a journalist whose articles are successfully published in major Italian publications. On his website you can find photographs from military Libya, modern Syria, reports on clashes in Mali and a series of photographs dedicated to the little-known conflict between the Karen national district and Burma.

“We arrived in Libya, in Tripoli, there was chaos and danger all around, we didn’t know anyone and we needed a translator. In the hotel lobby we met quite a few locals, one of them turned out to be an engineer. He was a pleasant man, calm, with kind eyes, he was about 60, he was not a young guy in search of profit. We finally asked him if he could help us and he agreed, but said that he could only work half a day since his son was killed yesterday.”

Few can remain indifferent to the photograph of Gaza Burial, depicting the grieving relatives and children killed during the bombing of the Gaza Strip. This photograph is so powerful and emotionally charged that after its victory in World Press Photo 2013, there was an expert who said that this was not just a photograph, but some kind of clever collage. However, the jury and experts of the world's largest photo competitions, after analyzing the photo, came to the conclusion that this is still not a collage or the notorious Photoshop.

Hansen is a photographer with quite a lot of experience, one of the few war correspondents who prefers working in the staff (Swedish publication Dagens Nyheter) rather than freelancing. At the same time, the photographer’s interests extend far beyond the borders of calm Sweden, thanks to which on his personal website you can see reports from modern Afghanistan, the problematic Congo, Kenya, occupied Iraq and protest Bahrain.

"Instead of thinking, 'He's showing us cruelty again,' I hope people will start thinking, 'What can I do to change this?'"

Walter Astrade was born in Buenos Aires and began his career in the local newspaper La Nacion, and was finally formed as a photographer after a long trip to South America. He now lives in Barcelona, ​​working on a major photography project on the abuse of women, and teaching photography.

You should visit the site at least for two of his photo reports: Bloodbathon Madagascar and Kenya Post Election Violence. This is a terrible sight for an audience with strong nerves, the quintessence of war, a realistic picture of conflicts on the dark continent.

War is a routine thing, and only its most resonant episodes make it onto newspaper covers today. The death of 280 passengers of a Boeing shot down in eastern Ukraine is one of these. Photos from the scene of this tragedy spread around the world, provoking another discussion among journalists about which photographs go beyond professional ethics, whether it is possible to convey the full horror of what is happening without corpses in the frame, and whether there is a place for aesthetics in a photograph that depicts death.

Bird In Flight spoke with photographers who often have to work in hot spots about what rules they adhere to when shooting and what audience reaction they want to achieve, and also asked photo editors what photos they do not print and what publications they consider a mistake.

If you are not horrified by this, you will continue to sit at home on the couch in the confidence that nothing terrible is happening.

Once near the plane, I fell into shock and at first did not know what to photograph. I understood that we are journalists, we are already there and must do our job. But I had doubts about what I could film and what I couldn’t. I tried to define my own moral boundaries and decided not to take close-ups.

I was worried that the photographs would not be offensive to the relatives of the victims. And this contrast - a beautiful field, flowers - evoked strong emotions in me. I took it off so that my face and lower parts of my body were not visible. If the corpse had been mutilated, of course, I would not have taken this photograph.

Is the shot too aesthetically pleasing? Yes, there is an opinion that it is necessary to show the full horror of what happened, and I had such photographs. But if it were my death, I would want it to be shown beautifully. I wouldn't want my severed arm photographed.

Our publication did not publish too heavy photos, but it seems to me that when this happens, people should see this nightmare. This is not just a plane crash - this is the consequences of a military conflict. If you are not horrified by this, you will continue to sit at home on the couch in the confidence that nothing terrible is happening.

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A photojournalist is not a criminologist, so some artistry should be present even in scary photographs.

News photography has one purpose - to inform about what is happening. Everything else is from the evil one. Some photographs continue to live for decades, becoming symbols, while others (these, of course, are the majority) will no longer be needed by anyone in a couple of days.

I don’t have any clear rules - I always decide on the spot what and how to shoot. And if in the case of man-made disasters photographing corpses seems unnecessary to me, then in the case of military operations it does not. Although, of course, there must be some limits. Much depends on the policy of the publication or agency for which you work - some will put bloody pictures, while others will limit themselves to a calmer card. Well, don’t forget that a photojournalist is still not a criminologist, so some artistry should be present even in scary photographs.

Every time while filming, I ask myself the question: “Would I, being in the place of the heroes of the story, want to be filmed?” When I understand that I don’t want to, I try not to press the button again. That is, I will film something important, of course, but I will try to do it in such a way as not to disturb anyone.

As for professional cynicism, this is an integral part of our work. You have to work with people who have become victims of certain circumstances, but you won’t be able to empathize with everyone. This is counterproductive in a professional sense, and it’s hard on the heart. Yes, over time you begin to relate to everything more simply, less emotionally. At the same time, the cynicism of photographers and journalists is still greatly exaggerated.

I did not photograph the bodies of the dead passengers of MH17, although I knew that there would be a demand for such photographs.

When events of historical importance occur, we sometimes have to show the world terrifying pictures. But it is important to remember that victims of disasters and military conflicts have relatives and friends. In the Internet era, they risk seeing their loved ones in ways they would not like to remember. Therefore, photographers must ask themselves if they are ready to see their loved ones like this.

A photographer needs a certain degree of freedom. On July 17, I did not photograph the bodies of the dead passengers of MH17, although I knew that there would be a demand for such photographs. There was other material for history. The editors asked me to photograph not bloody bodies, but things that belonged to the dead.

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The photographer must find an image and through it convey the horror of what is happening.

One day, my colleagues and I conducted an experiment: our boss found a photograph that showed the head of a terrorist in a pool of blood, and invited global publications to publish it. No one agreed - a rare reader wants to see pictures intended for pathologists. If the task is to convey the full horror of what is happening, a good photojournalist should do this through an image, and not just photograph dismemberment.

There are different ways to show tragedy. At one time I worked with Magnolia TV, and we had to film a story about a dead baby who was found in a trash can. Arriving at the place, we saw children examining the tank with interest - this could be the image that would convey the essence of what happened. Finding it means being a professional.

I don't believe that photographers working in hot spots become cynical over time - this cannot happen to a person with a strong psyche. There was one case in my practice: in January 1995, during the first Chechen war, the most venerable photojournalists gathered in Grozny. We stood along the fence on one of the streets, and an old woman with a bucket walked along the road. The sniper shot her straight in the head and she fell. What do you think the photographers did? They stopped filming and ran under fire to help the dying woman. One, however, remained in place and filmed how they carried her. His boss later refused to publish this photo.

The main task of war photography is to do everything to ensure that what happens never happens again. It is important to capture the history of the country, humanity, people - everyone should know it, this helps to avoid many mistakes.

War photography must tell an honest story. People who are lucky enough not to see war with their own eyes need to understand what is happening.

War is ugly. Really terrible things are happening. How to remove them depends on the situation. On the one hand, it is useless to publish pictures that will force the reader to quickly turn the page. But at the same time, events need to be shown as they are. Without sugarcoating it. To feel this balance, you need to be able to sympathize.

War photographers must remain calm in stressful situations and be able to empathize. If you can't pull yourself together while on the battlefield, this job is not for you. But you can’t completely turn off all feelings, not let everything that happens through yourself - no matter how professional you are, you still remain human.

War photography must tell an honest story. People who are lucky enough not to see war with their own eyes need to understand what is happening. Sometimes showing dead bodies is part of this task, but we need to look for other ways to convey the tragedy of events.

While working in Syria, I didn’t film everything I saw. I have photographs of bodies covered with linen. They lay open a few moments before I pulled the trigger. I felt that I should wait a little - the story would not lose anything.

But I showed the corpses when I considered it necessary. One day I witnessed the burial of six brothers and sisters who died in a bombing. This was one of the most difficult days of my work. It was then that I decided to take a photo of the uncovered bodies - the family of the victims wanted to show the whole world the real picture of what happened. I tried to control myself, but after editing and sending the pictures, I started crying.

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There is a difference: it is one thing to take a photo, another thing to make it public.

I believe that photography is always a document, proof. Therefore, the photographer must shoot everything. When preparing a publication, photographs necessary to confirm the idea of ​​the material are selected (this is, after all, a collective effort). And here a lot depends on the position of the editor, the taste of the editor-in-chief and, undoubtedly, the talent of the photographer.

I press the trigger in any situation. But there is a difference: it is one thing to take a photo, another thing to make it public. I had a case. In October 1992, I photographed the scene of the An-124 crash near Kiev. Among the published photographs was a photograph of the dead pilot’s face, which was literally melted into the helmet in the fire. The photo was creepy and powerful. After some time, they told me that the pilot’s family was horrified by what they saw. Since then, I always remember that each of my characters has loved ones.

The images must communicate something other than the fact that a tragedy has occurred.

When it comes to ethics, it's important to stick to the middle ground. There must be good reason for photographers and editors to take and publish overly explicit images of a tragic death. Especially if they can be used to identify the victims.

On the one hand, I believe that such photos cannot be published - some of the passengers of MH17 probably had relatives and acquaintances who did not even know that they were on the crashed plane. On the other hand, it is necessary to convey that people are dying - because this is really happening. In this sense, it is easiest to photograph dead bodies, but such frames have no value from a photographic point of view. The images must communicate something other than that a tragedy has occurred.

With the development of social media, photographers and journalists themselves decide what to publish on the Internet. Therefore, they also need to be trained in editorial skills. Almost always people gather around the scene of an incident and take pictures of everything they see - nothing can be done about it. Both twenty years ago and now people take such pictures - it’s just that now they can be posted on social networks.

The dulling of the senses with a constant stream of naturalistic images reminds me of the situation with video games - we worry that people stop seeing violence as something abnormal. In many ways, perception depends on when people see the photo - immediately after the disaster or several years later. How this affects society as a whole is a complex issue.

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Have I ever regretted publishing a photo?
Yes, alas.

There is a reportage photo, and there is a ruthless photo hunt for fried food - these are two different things. A reportage photograph can also be frank, frightening, causing disgust or indignation in the viewer, but it does not have the purpose of humiliating. That is why at one time all the “grands” of the information space refused to buy and publish photographs of Princess Diana in a broken car after an accident in a Paris tunnel.

Have I ever regretted publishing a photo? Yes, alas. I went to the funeral of the poet Dmitry Prigov, whose death was very painful for me, and made a photo report about it - as it seemed to me then, quite respectful and dispassionate. Its publication on the blog caused a sharply negative reaction from some of my friends who knew Prigov, and I had to delete the material. I no longer go to funerals with a camera.

The photograph must be anti-war,
but everyone sees the shortest path to peace in their own way.

A photograph, first of all, should tell the story of what is happening, convey a news message. I would add that it should be anti-war, but everyone sees the shortest path to peace in their own way. The same photo can be perceived differently: it will motivate one person to organize humanitarian aid, another - to raise funds for volunteers.

I never refused a shot because of its cruelty, but there were times when I didn’t take a shot out of respect for the feelings of the person in front of me. The horror of war can be conveyed more subtly than through excessive naturalism. But this is not a general rule; each photographer and each publication decides for themselves.

In wars, and in any extreme situations, perception is dulled. This is neither good nor bad, it is a natural defense mechanism of the psyche. I myself first felt this in the summer of 2012, when there was a flood in Krymsk. I arrived there late at night, and emotions began to overcome me. But the very next morning, after spending the night in the emcheesniks’ tent, the feelings subsided. In this state, I could not understand which frames would have the greatest impact on the viewer, and this made it very difficult to select photographs to send to the editor.

Wars should have no place in a civilized society, but they, large or small, are fought continuously. By showing their bestial grin, military photographers encourage humanity to peace. Konstantin Simonov visited the fronts of the Great Patriotic War more often than others, so his thoughts on the war are especially authoritative. He writes the following about military photojournalists: “When I, a writer, think about the profession of a photojournalist during the war, I think about how difficult this profession is. We can write later, we don't have to write then. We can write something down in our notebook, two or three words, and then develop the whole picture from it, because our memory works. They can't take it off later. They can only film then, at that moment, that tank that is coming at them, and that attack that they see. And the disaster they witnessed. The device does not remember, the device records. Their memory is their filming. What remains on the film is their memory of the war, and at the same time it is no longer their memory. This has already become the memory of humanity.” There are many stunning military photographs, they were made in different ways: some military photojournalists filmed reenactments, which also affected the emotions of the audience if they received a poster sound - and they were also a contribution to the victory. But a hundred times more heartfelt are the photographs taken in the bloody turmoil of a real battle. Let's try together to name photographs of the war that you know. But even the most courageous photographer rarely manages to capture a striking battle scene. Most of the photojournalists made it to the front line and did their work right under enemy fire. According to incomplete data, more than 360 photographic and documentary filmmakers died while performing their journalistic duties.

Soldier's work. Israel Ozersky

If Israel Ozersky had taken only one single photograph - "Soldier's Labor", then this would have been enough to be ranked among the luminaries of Soviet, and not only Soviet, military photography. The shot is simple to the point of surprise - there seems to be nothing heroic in it, well, the soldiers are rolling a gun, and they themselves are barely visible through the clouds of smoke, and maybe dust - only their helmets are visible. But this happens at the very, very forefront. The gun has already been deployed for firing, and this shooting will be direct fire at enemy tanks, which for artillerymen is the same as hand-to-hand combat for infantry: face to face. And it is not even the commander who leads them into the line of fire, but a simple soldier, and, moreover, from that same infantry. Unlike the gunners, he is not wearing a helmet, but a cap, and even an overcoat roll over his shoulder. And in his hands he is not holding an ordinary rifle - a three-line Mosin rifle - but either a carbine or a captured machine gun. And from all this it is clear that before us is an experienced man, they say about such people - a grated kalach. It was these seemingly unprepossessing soldiers who won the most grandiose battle of the twentieth century... And he shows the artillerymen the way, because he knows every bush and every pothole on this piece of land, in which they can hide more reliably if something happens. Well, the cannon that came to the aid of his platoon or company will now protect them from the next tank attack, fortunately they arrived in time... How much this soldier has already trampled, how much land he has plowed, digging in at each new line - it’s hard to even imagine. And war for him is continuous hard physical work, and even under constant fire, under bombs raining from the sky and under the eternal threat of stepping on a booby trap hidden in Mother Earth. - A surprisingly accurate name - “Soldier’s Labor”!