How erotic compositions led a classic of Soviet photography to prison

Alexander Grinberg, the founder of Soviet pictorialism, was widely recognized abroad and in his native country. However, his understanding of eroticism was different from the canons of Soviet art. As a result, the master ended up in prison, where he spent five years. After his release in 1941, he remained in Moscow. Fame and recognition were left behind. He had a tarnished biography and an endless love of photography.

Photo art by Alexander Greenberg

The future classic became interested in photography at the age of ten. His understanding of the skill went far beyond the banal image on the photo paper. In the 1880s, he joined the avant-garde direction of photography-pictorialism. The idea was to bring the photographic print as close as possible to the painting.

Alexander Greenberg understood photography as an advanced way to capture the beautiful.

It is worth noting that the work of Alexander Grinberg was widely known in Russia and abroad. His works are the most outstanding examples of nude photography of the pre-war era.

By the way, the latter led him to prison. The Soviet authorities recognized pictorialism as pornography.

The heroines of Alexander Greenberg's photographs resemble ancient sculptures. By the way, there were fewer clothes on the sculptures. Undoubtedly, the NKVD would have" sewn " an article on pornography to ancient Greek sculptors, as it did to Alexander Greenberg in 1936. At that time, he was a respected member of the photo community.

The master's asset was a silver medal of the Russian exhibition. German critics noted his art with a gold medal.

Post-repression period

After his release, the master earned money by photography. But then the exhibitions could only dream of. Despite everything, Greenberg developed advanced photo paper processing techniques.

After rehabilitation in the 1950s, he began teaching. Alexander Greenberg has always emphasized that similarity is the total impression of the external data and the inner world of a person. Creating a beautiful portrait depends not on the character, but on the skill of the photographer.