posted on 2019-03-19, 13:50authored byJessica Werneke
In January 1957, the Soviet Ministry of Culture resumed publication of the premiere photography journal of the Soviet Union, Sovetskoe foto (The Soviet Photograph) after a sixteen-year hiatus. At this time, the relative openness of the cultural Thaw fostered a “climate of enthusiasm” among amateur photographers, who were eager to learn from the professional photographers and editors of Sovetskoe foto. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, amateur and professional photographers alike sought to establish particular aesthetic standards in photography in an attempt to receive State funding and better educational opportunities. The question of who should regulate and censor amateur activities and aesthetics, however, remained ambiguous.
History
School
Social Sciences
Department
Politics and International Studies
Published in
Photography and Culture
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
47 - 68
Citation
WERNEKE, J., 2019. "Nobody understands what is beautiful and what is not": Governing Soviet amateur photography, photography clubs and the journal Sovetskoe foto. Photography and Culture, 12 (1), pp.47-68.
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Photography and Culture on 11 April 2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17514517.2019.1581473.