10 AMAZING works of Soviet avant-garde (PHOTOS)

Gateway to Russia

May 03 2025

The photographers of the young Soviet Union were searching for their artistic language and truly became innovators.

In the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s, the avant-garde still prevailed in the USSR everywhere: in art, architecture and literature.

Photography was not left behind: inspired by freedom and new forms, Soviet photographers experimented with new angles and subjects. For example, the ‘October’ group (Alexander Rodchenko, Boris Ignatovich and others) offered an avant-garde approach to photography. Their rivals, the Russian Association of Proletarian Photo Reporters (Arkady Shaikhet, Max Alpert, Yakov Khalip), developed reportage photography, where the aesthetics of factories and plants came to the fore.

In one way or another, the works of both became classics of Soviet photography. Below are some of the best.

1. Boris Kudoyarov. Ready. Steady. Go!, 1932

Courtesy of the Zotov Center

2. Boris Ignatovich. Labor Day, 1931

Courtesy of the Zotov Center

3. Arkady Shaykhet. Oil towers on the water. USSR, Azerbaijan SSR, 1929

Courtesy of the Zotov Center

4. Roman Karmen. The USSR-1 stratostat lifting, 1933

Courtesy of the Zotov Center

5. Mikhail Ozersky. Aviation Day in Moscow Central Park, 1933

Courtesy of the Zotov Center

6. Eleazar Langman. A jump into the water, 1929

Courtesy of the Zotov Center

7. Alexander Rodchenko. From the ‘Moscow Automotive Society factory’ series, 1929

Courtesy of the Zotov Center

8. Alexander Rodchenko. Wings. From the ‘Moscow Automotive Society factory’ series, 1929

Courtesy of the Zotov Center

9. Yakov Khalip. Monument to Ivan Fedorov. SSSR-V6 OSOAVIAKhIM airship, 1935

Courtesy of the Zotov Center

10. Arkady Shaikhet. Factory-kitchen, 1930

Courtesy of the Zotov Center

These and other photos can be seen in the ‘Starting a Creative Discussion. Constructivist Photography of ROPF and ‘October’’ exhibition at the Zotov Center in Moscow until July 20, 2025.