Mikhail Grachev

Soviet daily life. 1930s — 1960s

MOSCOW CITY DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE
MULTIMEDIA ART MUSEUM, MOSCOW

MIKHAIL GRACHEV
SOVIET DAILY LIFE.
1930s—1960s
/as part of the programme Classics of Russian Photography/

22 February 2019 — 31 March 2019

With the participation of the State Public Historical Library of Russia
Supported by: Nornickel
Curator: Natalia Bournina

As part of the XI Moscow International Biennale of Fashion and Style in Photography 2019, the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow presents ‘Soviet Daily Life. 1930s—1960s’, an exhibition by the outstanding Soviet photographer Mikhail Grachev.
Mikhail Grachev (1916–2011) became a keen photographer in adolescence. He devoted his entire life to photojournalism and worked for more than forty years in the printed press. His images as visual symbols of the first five-year plans, the Great Patriotic War and the postwar construction projects rated among the gold fund of Soviet and world photography.

Grachev’s first shots were published in the magazine Our Achievements, which was edited by Maxim Gorky. As a young photographer he took pictures of classes in a youth club and the daily life of a Pioneer camp. On the recommendation of V. I. Lenin’s sister Maria Ulyanova, in 1936 Grachev was enlisted in the staff of Izvestia newspaper, where he became a photo correspondent, special editorial correspondent and, at the same time, head of the laboratory. In 1939 he graduated from the evening technical school that trained photo reporters. During the Great Patriotic War he was in charge of the Izvestia photo laboratory and worked as press photographer for the newspaper Evening Moscow. He made frequent trips to the Kalinin and Western Fronts, as well as working in besieged Leningrad and the North Caucasus. During the defence of Moscow Grachev took photographs outside Volokolamsk, Istra and Tula. The exhibition will also show images Grachev took in wartime Moscow.

From 1949 Grachev worked for the magazine Soviet Union. The MAMM exhibition is based on reports prepared for this publication. While working for this magazine Grachev published more than 300 large-scale photo essays, many of which have been recognised by official acknowledgements and prizes. Often there is virtually no text to accompany them and they tell the story all by themselves.

As an editorial assignment Grachev photographed major USSR construction projects: hence the photo essays ‘Irtysh Channel — Karaganda’, ‘Country of Great Rivers’ and reports on construction of the Kuibyshev Hydro-Electric Station and Main Turkmen Canal. In 1957 Grachev took shots of the legendary All-World Festival of Youth and Students (the photo essay ‘We Await You in Moscow’).

A special place in his photographic heritage is occupied by photo essays of everyday life — ‘On the Dacha Train’, ‘On the Way to Work’, ‘In the Evening’ and ‘The Library on Bronnaya’. In the 1960s the ideological demand for heroism was replaced by a demonstration of the everyday well-being of Soviet citizens. In Grachev’s pictures Muscovites attend theatres and cinemas, read books in the library and celebrate Shrovetide at the recently opened Luzhniki. Workers in high-fashion swimming costumes sunbathe in factory solaria against a background of painted scenery. The ‘Against Flu’ series promoted a clever device that gives vaccinations without the use of a syringe. In a report about the children’s railway at Kratovo, just outside Moscow, which still exists, small Muscovites master the professions of ticket collector, train guard, conductor or signalman, while also happily assuming the role of passengers.

In addition to solo exhibitions, during the Soviet years pictures by Grachev were often shown at international exhibitions in the Soviet Union, the UK, France, Italy, Asian and American countries, where they received high-ranking awards.

From the earliest years of the Moscow House of Photography Museum, Grachev’s works have enriched the museum’s collection and often featured in group exhibitions arranged by MAMM. This solo exhibition was facilitated when the museum collection received new acquisitions by the master photographer in 2018.

Grachev’s works have participated in the group exhibitions ‘Masterpieces of Soviet Photography’ at the Atlas Gallery (London, 2018) and ‘The Soviet Era: Russian Photography from the Lafuente Archive (1917-1972)’ at the Círculo de Bellas Artes (Madrid, 2018).