Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Photographic print of a nighttime traffic scene created in 1936 by Mark Markov-Grinberg, a Soviet Jewish photographer and World War II correspondent. Markov-Grinberg was a major Social Realist photographer during the Stalinist era of the 1930s-1940s. He worked for major newspapers and journals, including TASS. He was a war correspondent during the Soviet-Finnish War from 1939-1940 and, in 1941, was drafted to fight in World War II. While a soldier, he continued his work as a photographer and army correspondent. After the war, he returned to his job at TASS.
- Artwork Title
- Traffic Policeman on Old Arbat Street, Moscow
- Date
-
depiction:
1936
- Geography
-
creation:
Old Arbat Street;
Moscow (Russia)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Stephen Nicholas
- Signature
- back, center, script, pencil : M. Markov-Grinberg
- Contributor
-
Artist:
Mark Markov-Grinberg
Subject: Mark Markov-Grinberg
- Biography
-
Mark Borisovich Markov-Grinberg was born on November 27, 1907, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. He learned photography at secondary school. In 1925, he took his first job as a photographer for the Sovetsky Yug (Soviet South) newspaper and worked as a freelance correspondent for Ogonyok magazine. In 1926, Markov-Grinberg moved to Moscow and worked for various trade union newspapers and the magazine, Krasnoarmeyskaya Smena (Transformation). In 1930, he accepted an offer to work for the Fotokhronika TASS (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union). He traveled around the country photographing the official Soviet Union: major construction projects, collective farms, and happy workers engaged in building Soviet Society, as well as prominent Russian and foreign personalities. His photographs appeared in major Soviet publications, including USSR in Construction, a magazine that documented Stalin’s Five-Year Plans to industrialize the Soviet Union. In 1934, TASS commissioned Markov-Grinberg to create a photo essay detailing a day in the life of Ukrainian miner, Nikita Izotov. He created an iconic portrait of Izotov as a Socialist worker hero. The Izotov photo essay launched Markov-Grinberg's career as a Stalin-era photographer and he became one of the most important photographers of his generation. His work was part of the socialist realist movement in photography which pictured life as it should be in idealized images made to look like objective recordings of things as they were.
During the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-1940), Markov-Grinberg worked for TASS as a war correspondent and documented the fighting on the Karelian Isthmus. In September 1941, he was drafted into the Red Army, and continued to take photographs. He became the army correspondent for the military publication, Slovo Boitsa (Soldier’s World), in July 1943. He created well-known images of the Battle of Kursk and the crematorium at Stutthof concentration camp, when it was liberated on May 9, 1945, by the Soviet Army.
Markov-Grinberg lost his job with TASS in 1948 as a result of the anti-Semitic climate of late Stalinism. After his demobilization in 1953, he worked as a photographer for the Red Army Illustrated Gazette and, later, for the photography publishing office of the Soviet Union Agricultural Exhibition, a theme park about the People’s Economy. From 1957–1973, Markov-Grinberg worked for the Club and Art Hobby magazine. He took part in photography exhibitions in the USSR and abroad. An honorary member of the Russian Union of Art Photographers, Markov-Grinberg died in 2006 at the age of 99.
Physical Details
- Language
- Russian
- Classification
-
Photographs
- Category
-
Artistic photography
- Object Type
-
Photojournalism (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Black and white ferrotyped gelatin silver print, portrait orientation, depicting in the foreground, slightly left of center, a Moscow police officer seen from the back, wearing a dark uniform and white helmet, standing on an illuminated pedestal in the section of a large urban traffic intersection at night, surrounded by dirt and snow. His left, white gloved hand is raised towards oncoming cars and buses. The middle ground is filled by the dark, paved, intersecting streets, with a manhole cover right of center. In the background, 3 cars and a streetcar are stopped; pedestrians walk along the winding street with tall, bright street lights and large, multi-story buildings. Two bright streaks of light near the print’s right edge are the result of a long shot exposure time. The car, street, and pedestal lights are bright but hazy in contrast to the dark car shapes and the policeman’s uniform. The photographer took the picture from above and behind the policeman. The artist’s signature, year, title, and a number are inscribed on the reverse.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 23.380 inches (59.385 cm) | Width: 19.880 inches (50.495 cm)
- Materials
- overall : paper, emulsion, gelatin silver print
- Inscription
- back, center, Russian script, pencil : 1936 [Symbol]
back, top left corner, pencil : 14
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- Restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The photographic print was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Dr. Stephen Nicholas.
- Record last modified:
- 2024-10-03 11:05:20
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn518102
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Also in Mark Markov-Grinberg collection
The collection consists of photographic prints created by Mark Markov-Grinberg, a Soviet Jewish photographer and war correspondent during World War II.
Date: 1933-1943
Markov-Grinberg photograph of the crowd celebrating as Soviet planes fly over the State Historical Museum
Object
Photographic print of a parade in Red Square by Mark Markov-Grinberg, a Soviet Jewish photographer and World War II correspondent. The print documents a parade given in honor of the Cheluskin polar expedition participants. The expedition was sent to see if a non-icebreaker ship could pass through the Northern Maritime Route in a single navigation season. The ship sank in an ice field on February 13, 1934, and the crew was rescued in April by aircraft. Markov-Grinberg was a major Social Realist photographer during the Stalinist era of the 1930s-1940s. He worked for major newspapers and journals, including TASS. He was a war correspondent during the Soviet-Finnish War from 1939-1940 and, in 1941, was drafted to fight in World War II. While a soldier, he continued his work as a photographer and army correspondent. After the war, he returned to his job at TASS.
Markov-Grinberg photograph of Soviet soldiers crouching in a trench as a tank rolls across the gap
Object
Photographic print of Red Army soldiers in 1943 near Kursk, Soviet Union, by Mark Markov-Grinberg, a Soviet Jewish photographer and World War II correspondent. This image represents a scene from the Battle of Kursk, 1943, a major turning point of the war as it ended the German offensive in the east and gave the Soviet Army the strategic advantage for the rest of the war. Markov-Grinberg was a major Social Realist photographer during the Stalinist era of the 1930s-1940s. He worked for major newspapers and journals, including TASS. He was a war correspondent during the Soviet-Finnish War from 1939-1940 and, in 1941, was drafted to fight in World War II. While a soldier, he continued his work as a photographer and army correspondent. After the war, he returned to his job at TASS.
Markov-Grinberg photograph of a Soviet soldier kissing his rifle in front of the assembled troops
Object
Photographic print of a Soviet soldier at a 1943 Oath of War ceremony by Mark Markov-Grinberg, a Soviet Jewish photographer and World War II correspondent. Markov-Grinberg took this photograph minutes before the regiment depicted attacked an entrenched German defensive position. Markov-Grinberg was a major Social Realist photographer during the Stalinist era of the 1930s-1940s. He worked for major newspapers and journals, including TASS. He was a war correspondent during the Soviet-Finnish War from 1939-1940 and, in 1941, was drafted to fight in World War II. While a soldier, he continued his work as a photographer and army correspondent. After the war, he returned to his job at TASS.
Markov-Grinberg photograph of an aerial formation seen from below
Object
Photographic print of a 1933 air show near Moscow created by Mark Markov-Grinberg. Markov-Grinberg was a major Social Realist photographer during the Stalinist era of the 1930s-1940s. He worked for major newspapers and journals, including TASS. He was a war correspondent during the Soviet-Finnish War from 1939-1940 and, in 1941, was drafted to fight in World War II. While a soldier, he continued his work as a photographer and army correspondent. After the war, he returned to his job at TASS.
Markov-Grinberg photograph of 2 teams of 3 yoked horses and sleighs racing in the snow
Object
Photographic print of 2 horse teams racing through the countryside created in 1934 by Mark Markov-Grinberg, a Soviet Jewish photographer and World War II war correspondent. Markov-Grinberg was a major Social Realist photographer during the Stalinist era of the 1930s-1940s. He worked for major newspapers and journals, including TASS. He was a war correspondent during the Soviet-Finnish War from 1939-1940 and, in 1941, was drafted to fight in World War II. While a soldier, he continued his work as a photographer and army correspondent. After the war, he returned to his job at TASS.
Markov-Grinberg photograph of a Ukrainian coal miner and iconic Soviet worker hero
Object
Photographic print of Ukrainian miner, Nikita Izotov, by Mark Markov-Grinberg. In 1934, Markov-Grinberg was commissioned by TASS to create a photo essay about a day in the life of coal miner Nikita Izotov. Markov was to depict Izotov as a progressive man and show the good life of Soviet miners. He lived for six months with the Izotov family and created an iconic portrait of the Socialist worker hero. The published photo essay circulated in European publications, including Belgium and France, and the full series of fourteen photographs appeared in the German Workers Illustrated Newspaper. The Izotov photo essay was a sensation in Russia and launched Markov-Grinberg's career as a Stalin-era photographer. He was a major Social Realist photographer during the 1930s-1940s, working for major newspapers and journals. He was a war correspondent during the Soviet-Finnish War from 1939-1940 and, in 1941, was drafted to fight in World War II. While a soldier, he continued his work as a photographer and army correspondent. After the war, Markov-Grinberg returned to his job at TASS.
