(1899 - 1976)

Photographical Biography

   For the avant-garde artist amongst the photographers of the 1920's there had been three different ways of becoming involved in photography. The first group started with painting and graphics and progressed to photography by working with polygraphy. The careers of Rodchenko and Lissitzky like those of the propaganda artists Gustav Kluzic and Sergej Senkin, the graphic artist and designer Nikolai Setelnikov and the architect and designer Georgij Zimin, who devoted himself to the photogram rather unexpectedly, followed this path. Others however began their professional career as photographers in photographic studios, alternatively through literature and journalism establishing contacts with writers, editors and working as journalists. Some professional writers also turned to photography. Photographs exist of writers like I. Ehrenburg, I. Ilf and S. Tretiakov.

   Ignatovich was a journalist before becoming a photographer. During the autumn of 1918, he worked at the editor's office of the Lugansk magazine "Severo-Donezki Communist" and subsequently went to the Kharkov magazine "Krasnaja swesda". In 1920 he was appointed editor of the newly founded magazine "Krasnaja Bashkirija" and was sent as a delegate to the first Allunion congress of ROSTA workers. In 1921 he worked as chief editor for the magazine "Gornjak" (together with M. Mikov), where he published satirical poems by Majakovskij. Between 1922 and 1925 he was chief editor of the Leningrad humoristic magazines "Dresina", "Smechatsh" and "Busoter".

   Ignatovich later remembered his first experiences with photography.

   "How I became a photographer. In 1926 I was working for the magazine "Trud" and was responsible for the magazine's pictorial section of the supplement. During that time I became friends with a wonderful person the old and experienced photographer Stepan Antonovitch Krassin (Kroshin?). He led me to buy the "blackened Nettel" (9X12 cm) and the large metallic "Vogtland" (10 x 15 cm) which, at the time, were professional cameras. In 1927 I started to work as a press photographer with this equipment at the editor's office of the magazine "Bednota". At the time this was regarded a very interesting paper. Like any other magazine, it had an extensive section for letters, advice to farmers and others. They also employed their own photo correspondents from the Rjasan district. My job was to write the chronicle and to travel to the scene of events. With eagerness I set about my work to which I was still unaccustomed. The topics were extremely diverse, Volchovstroi (construction management of Volchovstroi hydroelectric power plant, 1918-1927), the first turbines and the Leningrad metal plant. the "Red Proletarian", radio at church..." (1)

   In 1929 Ignatovich worked as a professional reporter for "Dajosch" and "RadioslushateI", "Illustrirovannaja rabotshaja gaseta" and "Sovremennaja architectura" and the already had his "Leica". He took photographs of Moscow, traveled to Karelia, Leningrad and Lugansk. At this time a student of Ignatovich, Jelisaveta Ignatovich appeared. She was one of the rare female reporters of the time, his wife and a member of the "Ignaiovich Brigade."

   Ignatovich had also gathered some experiences as a motion picture camera man. He made the film "Sevodnja" (Today) based on the script by Esfira Schub. Some images from the movie were published in the magazine "Kino i zhisn", edition no. 21, 1930. The article by Valentin Demin "For the documentary" was illustrated with photographs of the Moscow tram and the buildings of the Sujev-club, designed by the architect llja Golosov. The article was critical of Sojuskino's work and particularly about the fact that the genre documentary was treated unprofessionally, not consulting qualified colleagues.

   A decade earlier the word "Chronicle" would have had the impact of a bombshell. It was regarded as the "flagship" of the extreme left's new aesthetic concept of art. At the beginning of the 1930s the word "Chronicle" had already become an accepted term. It had started the necessary genre cinematography. Only those that supported the idea of aesthetic expression of documents in art, particularly in the art of photography, could work in this field productively. Photographs, showing Ignatovich at work with his Leica or the huge film camera, always show him wearing his peaked cap with its peak turned back so it wouldn't interfere with his work.

   In 1930 Ignatovich worked as camera man again - this time for the first sound film "Olympiad of the arts". But he still returned to photography. During this time new techniques were applied in photography - portraits taken with the Leica could be taken at close range.

   In 1931 Ignatovich worked as photo reporter for the magazine "USSR in construction". The first photographs appeared in issue no. 5,1931, others were published in issue no. 9, which was dedicated to Moscow, the chamber theatre, street cleaning and cars at Mostovaja Street. As photographs had no signature it was not always possible to ascertain the artist. There is only a general list of photographers. One can recognize Ignatovich's photography by our knowledge of his work and his artistic handwriting. M. Alpert, W. Gruntal, G. Petrusov, A. Rodchenko, S. Tules, S. Fridljand, J. Chaplin, A. Shaikhet, A. Shterenberg amongst others, were also represented in this issue. In the same year Ignatovich and Sterzer published a large series of aerial photographs of Leningrad for a special issue of "USSR in construction" (issue no. 11).

   Ignatovich did not only work for Isogis, the publisher of the magazine, but from the mid 1930s he also worked for the weekly magazine "Stroim". From 1935 he headed the photographic team of the photo information agency "Sojusfoto". Members of this team were J. Brodski, L. Batj, J. Langman and Olga, Ignatovich's sister and his wife Jelisaveta. Ignatovich was a press photographer and journalist, but he always retained his interest in artistic photography and participated in numerous photo exhibitions.

   Ignatovich owes his fame and recognition to his dynamic photo graphs of the late 1920s and the early 1930s during which he developed his vision.

   Working for the magazine "Dajosch" in 1929 was extremely important for Ignatovich. Firstly, this was a fortnightly publication whose chief editor M. Kostelovskaja endeavored to publish the most current information available. Secondly, the magazine was printed by letter press but the photographic inserts where prepared using gravure. This created ideal conditions for the printing of photographs. To convey the feeling of color, brown or bluish tones were often used rather than the usual black. Gravure printing reproduced saturated and grainy photographs. These techniques as well as dispersing the text with black and white photographs, various aspects of printing like type, and making up pages with contrasting black and white drawings by Moore or Deineka, made the magazine an experience. Thirdly, the magazine excelled because of the way photographic material was used. Naturally some average photos were published but through its illustrated special inserts the magazine became dynamic, current and had integrity. These inserts consisted of small photo commentaries containing five to seven shots dedicated to a company, an event or an establishment. To be able to set accents or highlights, the photographers themselves often mounted the pages with their photographic material.

   Photography introduced the people to the new Soviet technology by showing its equipment, external appearance and its superiority in comparison with handicraft. It must be remembered that the magazine appeared at a time when the first five-year-plan was in full swing and all magazines published plenty of information about industrialization and the cultural revolution became a visual experience. Boris Ignatovich and Alexander Rodchenko were the first photographers to work for the magazine. Now and then it contained illustrated reports by Dmitri Debabow. It was in the final issue that a photo report by Roman Karen was published.

   Rodchenko's first impression of Ignatovich was very interesting. He met him on March 19th, 1929, during the hanging of a photographic exhibition organized by the "Society of Friends of the Soviet Film" (ODSK). According to the records of Varvara Stepanova, Rodchenko's wife, the following conversation took place that day. Rodchenko: ,,It is enjoyable to look at your work - it encourages one to take photos straight away..." Ignatovich: ,,Do you think I have worked without your influence?"(2)

   In 1929 a total of 14 issues of the magazine "Dajosch" were published. Boris Ignatovich published 13 of his own photo reports and a large number of single photographs. The topics were sorting out grain, furnishings, vegetable planting near Moscow, the enterprise OGPU, timber for export, the turbine hall of the metal plant at Leningrad, the paper factory Kondostroi, the rubber factory "Krasny Treugolnik", the hydroelectric power plant and the rabbit farm.

   Ignatovich usually worked with his Leica. His photographs have a clear structure, often a dynamic diagonal, large details, shapes and levels. Usually they are photographs of industrial products, rhythmically arranged lines of a particular object. The photographer was particularly attracted by industry and the rhythm of repeating detail and elements. It is likely that some photographers when taking photographs of technical instruments were unaware of the fact that they continued the experiments of geometrical, analytical painting of the early 1920s. At this point we should remember the works of the German and American photographers of the early 1930s for whom technique became a most popular and expressive model Moholy-Nagy, Umbo, Renger-Patsch, Margaret BurkeWhite.

   When selecting photos for a photo reportage Ignatovich adhered to a uniform principle. He would always include one or two general views such as a landscape, a building, an interior or a factory hall followed by one or two pictures of a working- or production process, various plants as well as equipment at work. He would always add a photo of the finished product at the end.

   Another special quality in Ignatovich's photo reportages was his love of all kinds of inscriptions, notices and resolutions. He saw the word as a special photographic model. It would appear twice in his pictures, firstly as a concrete object with its characteristic form and secondly as information which can be read and its meaning understood e.g. the name of a place, a factory or a shop. The inscription is usually an important formal compositional detail, highlighting the spacial aspect in the photograph. Ignatovich does not take a frontal view as he would for a reproduction but a sharp angular view which shortens the line in the distance or he shows large fragments of words and letters. These photographs reflect how information was passed on in cities. It is possible that Ignatovich's strong interest in texts and inscriptions in cities was related to his practical journalistic activity. The third important quality of Ignatovich's work is the compositional strength of his photographs or, using the artist's words "wrapping up".

   What was meant by "wrapping up" at the time? It meant the search for a certain angle to the event giving the appearance that the fore- and the background are filled, resulting in a clear correlation. The space seems pressed and layered. All important detail is in the central area of the photograph. This way the photo obtains a generous and important form. To extend the frame of the photo graph. recording more detail and highlighting the dynamics of the photo, the whole scene was "wrapped up" into a diagonal. The camera was held at an extreme angle forcing the eye to adjust to an unusual coordinate system.

   Those who criticized Ignatovich and his colleagues from "Oktjabr" for their experimental photography, ignored that these compositionally accurate and well-reasoned photographs gained expression and would compliment each others informational content when presented together. The single photograph could quickly become a puzzle although it may have provided aesthetical enjoyment and could be an example of a composition of a sectional view of nature.

   It was said that "Dajosch" was discontinued because of high cost. Work on the image however had already started. A group of like-minded people, practitioners with photographic experience had already met. The group of photographic progressives "0ktjabr" was not founded immediately. It emerged from a union of representatives of the various arts.

   The union "0ktjabr" was founded in 1928 and included members like the painters Deineka and Moore, poster artists like Kluzic and Senkin. architects like Ginsburg and Vesnin and film directors like Eisenstein and Shub. In a declaration to "Pravda" on June 3rd, 1928, it was expressed that the modern spacial arts (this concept included architecture, painting, sculpture, graphics, industrial art, photography and cinematography) should serve the working people in two areas, firstly in "ideological propaganda" and secondly in "production and immediate organization of their collective every day life".

   Within the union of "0ktjabr" various sections developed e.g. architecture, polygraph and textile production. Rodchenko joined the section "interior design". In 1930 he became aware of the impossibility of realizing certain projects and also, that interesting projects were never given to members of the "Oktjabr" group. He then dedicated himself increasingly to photography and together with members of "0ktjabr" like R. Karmen and M. Kaufmann, he organized the photo section. They hoped for the birth of an unusual, happily experimenting and creative organization. From the autumn 1930 the photo section of "0ktjabr'' had several new members Ignatovich and his wife Jelisaveta, his sister Olga, B. Gruntal, J. Langman, L. Smirnov, B. Kudoiarov, P. Petrusov, A. Pushkin amongst others. That year the photo section became an independent, creative photographic union and is known in literature under the name "Group Oktjabr". Group members wanted to publish photographs related to new social topics like student living quarters, radio gymnastics, examples of Soviet technology amongst others on a large scale. Activities in photo circles were also planned. This was in fact the first experimental photographic school in which teachers were still searching and learning in cooperation with their students. Every photographic process was presented as an extreme visual transformation. In a diagonal composition the horizontal line was tilted so strongly that people felt dizzy. For an enlargement the face or object was shown optimally close and the sharpest angle was selected, achieving the best possible perspective shortening of the object. The official photographic press accused these impressive and emotional experimental photographs of being harmful, middle-class and formalistic.

   One of the yellowed photographs from the Rodchenko archives shows a section of an unusual exhibition. Photographs, quite arbitrarily glued to a piece of cardboard, are fastened to a timber ledge frame on a wall. Photographs of a timber saw-mill by Rodchenko can be recognized. These are dynamic photographs of workers stacking timber, standing with their backs to the photographer. Other photographs by Ignatovich are of controllers trained at the dynamo factory (this photo was published under the title "Let's free ourselves from overseas dependency") or photos of plank- and beam-stacking. Obviously photographs of other group members were exhibited in a similarly simple way without frames and mounted on thick cardboard organized in rows on ledges.

   Regardless of the fact that the exhibition's participants were anxious to indicate their devotion to the new social topics (they took photographs of industrialization, kolkhoz, progressive forms of work organization, facts of cultural life) the exhibition of the group "0ktjabr" was strongly criticized by the press. They began to look for people to blame. Rodchenko left the group. Ignatovich tried to preserve the close "family circle" and wrote a new declaration. Inspite of this, the group broke up. Some members continued their work as reporters while newspapers and magazines at the time however, employed all those artists who in 1931-32 had still belonged to the opposite photographic unions "0ktjabr" and "ROPF" (Russian Union of Proletarian Photographers). Ignatovich and Rodchenko were reprimanded for shortening the perspective and the staggering diagonal construction of the photograph, while practitioners utilized this new way of composition for themselves.

   The 1935 exhibition of Soviet mastery of photo art continued to encourage "creative discussion" about formalism and the creative method in photography. In the 1930s, the political environment demanded penance and a "perestroika" of the masters of "left" photography. In public they were to renounce their earlier glary, controversial work. This explains the remorseful title of the self-critical article "Technology of formalism" by I. Sosfenov. For Morosov this contribution was interesting. It explained in short the compositional methods and principles for the selection of pictures used by the "group Ignatovich" and by Ignatovich himself. Regretting their mistakes, they presented all those creative values which they had earlier wanted to enforce in photo reportage but with a complete change of expression. They increased the photographs informational content, showed the simultaneous existence of various objects and situations in different surroundings and supplied examples for the new vision. About the time of "0ktjabr" Sosfenov wrote words aligned to penance such as "Thought has fallen out of our art". This however did not reflect the truth. Thought was present in forming new ideas about world dynamics and the freshness of observation but not as political propaganda, Sosfenov wanted to explain his understanding of the "reverse optic" in this article.

   "A short focal length emphasizes the depth of a space, a long one destroys it. Ignatovich used the method of the "reverse optic". When the camera was focused on detail he would take a photograph of the entire scene. This method made the objects appear totally different from what could normally be expected. They became completely new and striking." Sosfenov quite correctly emphasized the technological influence on the development of a photographic style. Inspite technique and technology apparently being the same, every master had his own recipes and technical devices. Photography like any other art also depends on the extend to which the skills are mastered. On November 10th, 1937, the first all-union exhibition of Soviet photo art was opened at the National Pushkin Museum for Fine Arts. The exhibition covered the white hall on the first floor, the colonnades and the smaller rooms on the side. Ignatovich's contributions could be found in the department "USSR in works of photo art". After the exhibition his photo "steel casting" was published many times. It appeared in the exhibition catalogue of Soviet photo art 1938 in Kaunas, in "Sovietskoje foto" (issue no. 12, 1937) and even in the Dutch photographic magazine "Focus", which made an exact compositional analysis of the work - the composition of vertical space. The scene at the Asovsk steel works had been taken from below. The figures of workers and the foundry ladels were taken against the light and in the foreground were gigantic foundry ladels vertically placed. The photographs essentially differed in their inner balance and thoroughness in comparison with earlier experimental work by Ignatovich. One of the photographs of the factory in "Sovietskoje foto" no. 9, 1937, was published with the names of two photographers - B. Ignatovich and W. Kovrigin. It is possible that both were sent to the scene by Sojusfoto agency.

   Other topics Ignatovich presented at the exhibition in 1937 were e.g. "newspaper reading" (Kolkhoz in the region of Krasnodar), "Lesson for engineers and technicians (sitting in a circle) studying party history", Ignatovich had captured a pictorial event with his camera. A group of people sitting at a table with very serious and solemn composure. A factory in its outline is visible through the window - pipes and constructions. The picture was taken against the light and was in a statichorizontal composition. In the photograph "newspaper reading" the composition is more dynamic and vertical and has a larger space. The scene has been taken from a higher point, perhaps a chair or ladder. After the exhibition Ignatovich's work was frequently published in "Sovietskoje foto".

   "Ignatovich's "At the water works" is one of his most important recent photographs. The photo has an almost impeccable composition. The well-known method of "triangular construction" has been successfully combined with the characteristic use of the camera lense. The light is beautifully reflected. Shadow and lightreflexes are playing lightly and airily through hair tousled by the wind. The tonal gradation on the beautiful young faces is pleasant. But although the photograph is masterfully executed, it gives an impression of a certain duplicity. The composition is static. The diagonal movement of the lines and spots from the lower left comer into the upper right is combined with some calm verticals. The space is shown on two plains but the two figures seem to be on one level. The building behind runs into the sky to form a homogeneous spacial background not connected with the foreground. The composition seems paralyzed, completely quiet and motionless."(3)

   Sosfenov undertook a careful and exact compositional analysis. In many photographs Ignatovich keeps to a similar principle when composing the photographic space. He uses two main plains. The first is usually as close as possible and being cut into by the frame. The second is blurred and dissolves in the background. Photographs by Ignatovich always tell some small story, placing the represented people and events in relation to each other. This interchange is obvious e.g. in his famous picture "Motherhood", where a mother is washing her child while a foal in the same touching way nestles against a mare.

   Ignatovich collected old cameras, objectives and lenses. He preferred a special technique and a certain formula and had an alert and respectful attitude to the technology of photography. His favorite camera was a 9x12 reflex camera with changeable lens. This "Nettel" was the first camera he bought when still working at the magazine "Bednota". Although this was a large camera it was light and handy. Ignatovich took this camera to the war front. It had an adapter for large size roll-film. He preferred a soft lens. This related perhaps to his character or his wish that his work should show many facets without an overly fragmented and detailed composition.

   One of his preferred lenses for portraiture was a construction by the well-known German portrait photographer in the early 20th century, Nikolaus Perscheid. It had an aperture of 60 mm. The lens allowed for an interesting and characteristic rendering of detail. It could be used for a large size negative (18 cm x 24 cm) and as a telelens and was not unyieldingly hard and sharp in rendering. He was able to take portraits without a specially prepared background because of its small depth of field. Ignatovich selected or made the apertures himself. At all stages of his work he endeavored to direct the light. Before starting to work he would always make a sample photo out of the window and develop it. He would start to work only after approving the quality of me result. He prepared his prints as thoroughly. The enlarger had to be decentralized. The "Leitz" enlarger was standing on his table. With a large rod he could bring the photo to a size 50 cm x 60 cm. Two wooden self-made enlargers were fixed to the wall next to the "Leitz". These were for the 13 x 18 cm and 9 x 12 cm prints. This was positioned in an average living room. At night the photos were printed and washed. Ignatovich always printed his exhibition prints and press photos himself. "If the photographer doesn't print his photographs himself he may as well say to be playing his portable recordplayer". Ignatovich made this statement quite frequently to the members of the photo club "Novator"(4).

   Ignatovich's own prints are unique. They are almost like painted artworks. The master never touched up but achieved the basic effects through the printing process. He utilized light and shadow and exposed the various sections of photographic paper that depth and space were optimally emphasized and the plains appeared separate from each other. Ignatovich's photographs have a certain similarity with paintings when considering their tonal gradation from light to dark. He paid great attention to the rendering of light and shadow in a composition. Rodchenko made almost no photos against the light. He underlined the constructional modeling of the form. However, Ignatovich preferred to work against the light. This helped him to capture the fine emotional situations, to render softness in the transition from light to shadow and to emphasize the elements of space. Ignatovich had the ability to photograph light and shadow as important elements of photographic form. That might have been the reason for his opinion that it was not possible to produce excellent photography without diaphragm. He always was open-minded towards fine arts. Visiting exhibitions was most important to Ignatovich. He never was inactive when amongst his fellow artists; he would take photographs of them, e.g. of Birger, Deineka, Muchin, Konenkov amongst others. He loved the paradox e.g. the harmony of a two dimensional print with a three dimensional space.

   Painting once suffered defeat when compared with the art of photography. Deineka's painting from a motif of Ignatovich's photo "In the bath" was much weaker. The idea of connecting the front and back plain had been lost. The photo showed a young man (taken from the back) with a hose who sprays other boys in the foreground. The single water droplets are playing in the light, the background is covered with an almost closed curtain of spray. The muscular back in the foreground is well-focused, the background blurred. The foreground in Deineka's painting is missing. The picture is flat and has lost its inner meaning and its depth.

   Ignatovich has turned photography into an art - an art as he understood it. He did not imitate painting. His basis was his technique, vision and his virtuosity.

Alexander Lavrentiev

1. B. Ignatovich. Drafts for memoirs. Handwritten (manuscript). The 80's, archive of K.N. Ignatovich.

2. W.F. Stepanova. Notes. 1927 -1939. Handwritten. Archive of Rodchenko and Stepanova.

3. I. Sosfenov. The image of (he young person in soviet photoart. "Sovetskoje foto" No. 13, 1938, pages 15-16.

4. The artist and photographer N.S. Lavrentiev witnessed many of Ignatovich's conversations at the photoclub "Nowator". In the 1960's he was a member of the club. He gave the information to the author.