Propaganda and Dreams: Photographing the 1930s in the USSR and the US

by Philip Brookman, James H. Billington (Foreword), Leah Bendavid-Val (Editor)

Propaganda & Dreams is a revealing portrait of two countries, the United States and the Soviet Union of the 1930s. This thought-provoking volume includes more than 200 photographs, all, says author Leah Bendavid-Val, "generated by governments for causes that were shared by the photographers who took the pictures, the authorities who funded them, and the publishers who disseminated them." These photographs all offer impactive realism, but it is "mingled [with] romance...in varying ways and degrees."

Genres: Art

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Frankie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half is mostly text, with few images, describing two seemingly opposing movements of the 30s. In the US, government economic recovery agencies offered photographers regular pay to shoot images of Americans. Something similar occurred in the USSR. Their purposes were not so very different, and they were both heavily edited and profiled for a specific message. In the US, it seems the purpose was to show that the poor were doing well, living active lives. In the USSR, the purpose was to show that the poor were working very hard and enjoying it.

Regardless of these parallel movements and their propagandizing functions in the media, the art of photography made tremendous strides during the 30s. Both American and Soviet photographers developed unique styles of shooting still used today. Camera companies introduced more portable models and equipment. These pioneering photographers felt empowered, and themselves insisted on truth and kept each other honest. Staging a shot was considered a mortal sin. The elements of propaganda emerged later when the government editors selected only the images that told their story, much the same way ad agencies choose from stock images today.

In many photos, it's difficult to tell the difference between the US and the USSR. My favorites don't necessarily lend to the parallel motif, but here they are. The first is a Dorothea Lange image I'm sure everyone has seen - "Destitute Picker in California; A 32-year-old mother of seven children (Migrant Mother), Nipomo, California, 1936". The overpowering thing about this woman is her broken beauty, her clear mortality and indifference to her own personal life. The second is by Alexander Rodchenko - "The Orchestra, White Sea Canal, 1933". This one is remarkable for its use of tilt to bring two groups/planes together, and the combination of different interests, talents, etc. of two shifts of workers. It sells the Stalinist necessity for working happily but constantly, yet opposes it at the same time by showing how ridiculous and ironic such a scene really is.

This book was a great idea, though perhaps not carried out fully. I believe the author started out selecting paralleling images from each culture, but somehow got a little sidetracked from her purpose. The latter half of the book is a random selection of images with no direction. Maybe she presented them purposefully as undefined to avoid propagandizing them any further. If I learned anything from this book it's that anything can be construed as propaganda in retrospect.

[erl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful exploration of how both the US and USSR used photography to advance a specific agenda in the 1930s. Beautiful, moving photographs with text about how they were made and the people who made them.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great "comparative" photo book. Throughout the 30s the New Deal brokered FSA photographers were under attack from the right for creating pro-left "propaganda" and even labeling some of the group as communists. When does photography become propaganda, or is it always propaganda?

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting study in contrasts and similarities and while the U.S. images are familiar upon seeing them, the Russian ones less so, and open up a new view of this era.

[Matthew Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always loved old photographs. This book showed life in the U.S. and U.S.S.R in the 30s. I think it would be interesting book to have same places photographed now.