Gallery

10 Must-See Images from the Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection

Newly digitized photographs from the Davis Center Library's collection provide a stunning visual record of life in postwar Soviet Union.

The Davis Center Library recently digitized its Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection. Intended to document the reconstruction of the Soviet Union following World War II, these nearly 5,800 black-and-white photographs provide a stunning visual record of daily life, culture, and politics at the start of the Cold War.

Subjects range from famous historical figures, including Joseph Stalin and Dmitrii Shostakovich, to ordinary people from all parts of the USSR pursuing work and leisure. Commissioned by the propaganda arm of the Soviet state and intended for dissemination by foreign news agencies, most of the images bear reverse-side captions—often in English—identifying the location, subject(s), and photographer.

Thanks to a massive effort by REECA master's and Slavic Ph.D. students who transcribed and translated these captions, all text accompanying each image is fully keyword-searchable. The resulting digital resource is invaluable for teaching and research.

To view the collection, search HOLLIS Images for “Soviet Information Bureau,” or follow this link: http://bit.ly/sibphotos.

Ten must-see images from the collection:

A woman embraces her children in front of train.

Two children evacuated from Leningrad during the Siege are reunited with their mother.

Trachtenberg, Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection, Davis Center Collection, Harvard Library
Two Buryat women read the newspaper "Komsomol'skaia pravda."

Two generations of Buryat women read the newspaper Komsomol’skaia pravda

G. Samarii, Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection, Davis Center Collection, Harvard Library
A crowd of cheering people at a Moscow football match.

Spectators at a soccer game. The caption on verso reads: “This mass of ebullient Russians at a football game in Moscow demonstrates that people are the same everywhere. Put other clothes on them and we have a typical American baseball crowd."

Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection, Folder: "Sports: 2", Davis Center Collection, Harvard Library
A woodworker with tool-equipped prosthetic arms works in a studio.

From the series “Arming the Armless”: prostheses allow this carpenter to engage in woodwork.

Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection, Folder: "Miracles in arming the armless," Davis Center Collection, Harvard Library
A construction worker working on the Moscow Metro.

Shift superintendent Vladimir Gorlov works on the construction of Line 4 (the Filevskaia Line) of the Moscow Metro.

V. Minkevich, Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection, Davis Center Collection, Harvard Library
Actress Ianina Zheimo sits and smokes on the set of the movie "Cinderella."

Soviet film star Ianina Zheimo smokes on the set of the film Cinderella (1947).

A. Koltsaty, Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection, Davis Center Collection, Harvard Library
Uzbek athletes march in Red Square.

Uzbek athletes march in the 1945 Physical Culture Parade on Moscow’s Red Square.

M. Trakhman, Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection, Davis Center Collection, Harvard Library
A group of schoolkids and teachers admire a porcupine in their classroom.

A porcupine from the Moscow Zoo visits a classroom.

Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection, Davis Center Collection, Harvard Library
A group of children and instructor perform exercises at the Artek Pioneer Camp.

Morning exercises at Artek Young Pioneers’ Camp in Gurzuf, Crimea. 

Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection, Davis Center Collection, Harvard Library
Irina Bugrimova poses with a tamed lion.

Celebrated lion tamer Irina Bugrimova during one of her circus acts.

Soviet Information Bureau Photograph Collection, Folder: "Irina Bugrimova, lion tamer," Davis Center Collection, Harvard Library

Librarian for the Davis Center Collection, Harvard University

Svetlana Rukhelman is the librarian for Harvard's Davis Center Collection.