Zotov Centre opens exhibition on the October and ROPF photography groups

Moscow collections hold a great many works by Constructivist photographers, but the systematic study and display of this legacy began only comparatively recently. Well, better late than never.

An exhibition devoted to the work of members of two photographic associations, October and ROPF, has opened at the Zotov Centre. Both groups included leading masters of Constructivist photography: Alexander Rodchenko, Boris Ignatovich, Arkady Shaikhet and Yakov Khalip. The exhibition covers the period of the first Five-Year Plan (1928–1932), when the state had a great demand for industrial photography. It was the last flight of Constructivism before Socialist Realism finally established itself in art and put an end to avant-garde experiment.

The exhibition is built around the debate on artistic language that flared up between members of the associations: the photographers of October sought new forms and angles, while the ROPF men staked everything on documentary fidelity and ideological topicality. At the end of the tour, presumably, the visitor is meant to conclude that there is no difference between the methods of the Octobrists and those of the ROPF men.

The display brings together more than 110 exhibits, from landmark pictures by Rodchenko and Shaikhet to rare magazine spreads with the work of forgotten authors. Also on show are photographic equipment, albums and critical articles of the 1920s and 1930s.

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Zotov Centre opens exhibition on the October and ROPF photography groups

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