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Georgy Petrusov – long observation method

I think Georgi Petrusov is of particular interest to those living today. He was a master with a capital letter and left to descendants high-quality examples of his work, recently exhibited at the Georgy Petrusov exhibition at the New York House of Photography. Retrospect”. But also because he, living in the epoch of totalitarianism and total control in the country, where one had to get permission for any outdoor shooting from the beginning of the 1930s, remained an inwardly free creative personality, capable of unconventional expression, generalization and new vision of usual subjects. And also because he was the first to apply in photojournalism and repeatedly used the method of long observation of the subject

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We thank the New York House of Photography for the opportunity to publish Georgy Petrusov’s photographs from the “Retrospective” exhibition

Georgy Petrusov

Surname

Petrusov

Name

: George

Father’s name

: Grigorievich

Year of birth

: 1903

Birthplace:

Rostov-on-Don

Education

medium

Profession

Photojournalist

1924-1928. – in the union magazines Metalist,

“Worker Chemist, published in Trud and Pravda newspapers and Ogonyok and Projektor magazines.

1929-1932. – head of the Pravda newspaper photo department at the construction site of the Magnitogorsk iron and steel works.

1933-1941. – Photo correspondent of “USSR at Construction Site” magazine.

1941-1945. – Special war correspondent for Sovinformbureau and Izvestia.

1945-1955. – In the publishing house Art, he worked on the albums “New York”, “New York University”, “Ballet of the Great Theater”, “New York Metro” and others.

1955-1957. – A photographer for Sovinformbureau later transformed into the Novosti Press Agency .

1957-1971. – Collaborated with the Soviet Life magazine APN .

1971 g. – died in New York.

He was born into a wealthy family. In 1920 he graduated from a high school in Rostov and got a job as a bookkeeper at the Rostov branch of Prombank. Since the age of 14 he took a great interest in photography.

In 1924 he abruptly changed his life and moved to New York. Started working as a photo reporter in the central press: in magazines “Metallist”, “Rabochiy-Khimik”, in the newspaper “Trud”, then in “Pravda”, in magazines “Ogonyok”, “Smena”, “Projektor. Quickly got in top ten of the capital photographers and voluntarily left New York for two years.

He left on his own initiative to build the Magnitogorsk combine, headed the information department of the construction and worked from laying the foundation to launching the first blast furnaces. He was awarded with a diploma of shock worker “for active participation in the construction of the fortress of socialist industrialization”, a badge “Builder of a giant Magnitostroy” and a commemorative plaque “Comrade G. Kucherenkov”. g. To Petrusov, as a sign of your active participation in construction of the first stage of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works named after comrade Stalin, the plant management presents you a MEMORIAL BOOK, cast from cast iron of the first heat of blast furnace № 1, February 1, 1932″.

The photos of Magnitogorsk that we have seen so far contain a tight blend of information and imagery. Compositional accuracy and expressiveness, laconicism in creating a picture of a giant national construction site, unexpected angles, and well-thought organization of space in the frame, all these qualities made Petrusov famous and famous.

The method of long-term observation was also close to him by virtue of his character – thorough, analytical, unhurried, “at first glance, somewhat slow-moving,” according to Roman Karmen. He always accomplished his work with no fuss, meticulously preparing in advance, thinking through the details, subjects, closeness of shots, lighting and timing. Temperament of the publicist, the epic storyteller surprisingly combined in it with talent of the artist.

Here is a plan of preparations for the shooting “In a Ukrainian village” for the next issue of “USSR at the construction site” #3, 1936 . The original text is typewritten judging by the erasure of the letters, editorial . It consists of 13 items, among them such as “Kolkhoznye fields. Wide coverage of the fields. Harvesting. Mechanization, grain handling culture. Hinged machines.

Group method”, supplemented with a beautiful rounded handwriting of Petrusov: “Grain point. Cleaning, grain handling, grain loading. At the threshing-floor. Cr. the wheat with the people plan. Agronomist, girl faces “. Above point “Mechanization” is neatly inscribed “cottage industry!”. And so on each point. At item 7, “Collective Farmers’ Life” is inscribed “and Leisure. There are item 11 – “Evening Hour or Dinner” and item 12 – “Demobilized Soldier Returns to the Collective Farm”. It’s like a movie: bid, script, storyboard..

He was a lifelong friend of Roman Karmen, the famous cameraman. They were united by their common views on photographic reporting and the same perception of life. At the beginning they even thought of uniting under a pseudonym maybe that is the reason for the cinematographic approach in the pictures ? . Or maybe it was just this style of work that dictated the Soviet Union at Construction sites magazine, a powerful visual propaganda tool, where Petrusov had worked from the very first days of its existence.

All in all, he made about 20 topical releases, including those devoted to Magnitostroy, Science in the USSR, Central Park of Culture, Oil Production, Underground Construction, Karelia, resorts in the USSR, Kabardino-Balkaria, GAZ, the Black Sea Fleet, Soviet Cinematography, the New York-Volga Canal, Soviet Cossacks, the All-Union Exhibition of National Economy, Soviet Armenia, Western Ukraine and Belarus, and Soviet Bessarabia. There was also a number devoted to the Soviet circus which never came out because of the war. The issue of the magazine itself was suspended.

In “USSR at the Construction Site,” Petrusov worked in contact with the artists who designed the magazine: El Lissitzky, Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Vladimir Favorsky, Nikolai Troshin, and Solomon Telingater. The creative atmosphere in the magazine, the large format, the best printing, the credibility of the photographer – the main author of the magazine – all this was close to Petrusov’s character and his creative tasks.

Here the photographer and the artist acted almost as equals: the photographer participated in the layout, in the mounting of the photographs on the pages, in the discussion of the issue. How easily Petrusov handled any creative task in the future: he printed his photographs himself, meticulously choosing paper, experimented in printing. How lovingly he lovingly made the original layouts of his photo albums, carefully glued prints to the cardboard, mounted the spreads, thought over the composition of the future edition.

How far the published albums were from the original layouts because of bad printing. They did not convey the amazing transparency and airiness of Petrusov’s photographs, their mother-of-pearl white color! The famous “Kabardian Girl” in the album and in the author’s original “hand-made” print make a different impression. In the original print the girl is alive, she breathes, her shawl is transparent, the satin of her costume is supple and dense. She is beautiful, she is the embodiment of beauty, youth, happiness. In a typographic print the radiance of happiness fades.

Since 1926 Georgiy Grigorievich – constant participant of international photo exhibitions and photo salons: Leipzig, Amsterdam, New York, Prague, Paris, Antverpen, Ankara, Boston, Johannesburg, and also participant of respectable photo albums: “First Cavalry”, “Red Army”, “15 years of Red Army”, “Socialism Industry”, “Food Industry”, “Soviet Sub-tropics” and others.

The story of Petrusov himself and his time today can be told only with certain qualifications: “maybe”, “probably”, “maybe”. This is not only because there are almost no people who knew him well, but also because Georgy Petrusov was a very private person in his lifetime, a “fellow in himself”, as Mark Markov-Grinberg so aptly described it, well brought up in the Armenian way by his parents and had a solid and creative character.

This probably helped him to keep his distance from the photographic squabbles of the late 1920s and most of the 1930s: leftist, rightist, proletarian and not so proletarian. It is strange, but both liked Petrusov, as he synthesized in his work the best of both, taken from both and meaningfully recycled. If he did get into a discussion, it was to restore justice and reprimand the heathen. His word was weighty, authoritative, and he was listened to.

There is an impression that Georgy Petrusov did not really care about reporters’ gatherings and endless discussions, since he was always very busy: taking pictures of Party meetings in the Kremlin, parades on Red Square, and so on. Fulfillment of editorial tasks, business trips, travels around the country and abroad, participation in exhibitions, publication of photo albums – a busy schedule from the beginning of photographic career up to the last days. From the 1930s on, there was also a fascination for automobiles.

In 1936, by order of Sergo Ordzhonikidze, Georgy Petrusov was allocated an Emka car for filming at the Magnitogorsk Combine and the Gorky Automobile Plant. Then there were other cars: the Pobeda, the Steyr-Pooh, the Buick and the Volga, but they could always fight off-road and were primarily concerned with mobility and subordinated to the interests of photography.

According to the apt words of Alexander Rodchenko, with whom Petrusov was on friendly terms, after 1932 the excitement of the new. Something began to change in the atmosphere of life. A man with a camera on the street began to arouse suspicion. She needed special permission. Without him, she could only take pictures in her own apartment from the window. The atmosphere among professional photographers was as dramatic as it was all over the country. Describing the times, Rodchenko bitterly remarks: “We have no competition, no high pay, and, to tell the truth, the name is not valued.”.

On September 10, 1938 he wrote in his diary: “Another bad mood from the fact that all the time someone is taken away as enemies of the people, and they disappear without a trace … Every scum writes false denunciation, and the man sat for six months … Acquaintances like Georges and others tell incredible stories.”.

Petrusov’s wife, who was a German, was arrested. He was afraid to go home and was sheltered for a while by Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova.

Vera Semyonovna and Georgy Petrusov met in this troubled time, in 1937. Vera carried parcels to Petrusov’s wife in prison.

Tall, elegant, always concentrated and unflappable, he did not dispose to any familiarity from his fellow photographers. But women liked him very much, and he reciprocated. At the same time he was very fond of Vera Semyonovna, his second wife, always worried about her health, wrote her touching letters, missed her and waited for her return from hospitals and sanatoria. Verochka was a prominent blonde with blue eyes, slender, with a white-toothed smile. Men didn’t go around paying attention to her.

She was not a beauty, but she had such charm, such femininity and such a buoyancy of life… She dreamed of becoming an actress. She was not an actress, but thanks to Petrusov she became an excellent theatrical photographer. She worked at the Mossovet Theater, was friends with a brilliant galaxy of actors – Faina Ranevskaya, Lyubov Orlova, Vera Maretskaya, Andrei Popov, Rostislav Plyattom, Igor Ilyinsky, was acquainted with Marshal Zhukov. Not bad at tennis.

Ogonyok magazine and other publications printed her photos. They lived in Municipal Apartment No. 40 at 34/2 Bolshaya Polyanka. Vera Semyonovna was ill with tuberculosis. The neighbors in the communal apartment were very unhappy, and, according to Vera Semyonovna, there was an “unpleasant relationship” with them. In the 1960s, the Petrusovs moved to a separate one-room apartment with a small kitchen and a bathroom to a new house on Monetchikovsky Lane and nobody stopped Georgi Grigorievich from printing his photos.

According to recollections of Roman Karmen, Georgiy Petrusov was very strict in the selection of his photos, it reminded me of famous lines of Mayakovskiy about tons of ore and grams of radium: “He treated each photo with merciless strictness, with difficulty, with deliberation he reached the final decision to print, to sign with his name.

I saw dozens of magnificent prints put aside, I remember the disputes, bitterness of doubts when it came to which picture to put on the editor’s table. It was bordering on self-loathing. The selected negatives were printed over and over again, and the last print was finished with the care with which a diamond is polished. Friends and relatives Petrusov was always amazed by his incredible ability to work, frantic and purposeful in his work.

Since the beginning of the war Petrusov is a special war correspondent of the Soviet Information Bureau. Here is an eyewitness testimony by Carmen: “I saw Petrusov in the war. North-Western Front, harsh winter of 1941-1942. In the snows near Staraya Russa we lay together under bombardment. Slept in earth holes. He was laughingly helpless when he broke his glasses. However, he continued his work. In the evenings I squeezed myself into a tiny dugout, took off my oiled and blackened fur coat, warmed myself by the stove and started recharging the film: at dawn I had to send the negatives to the Soviet Information Bureau in New York…”

When he returned to the capital he was a member of the anti-aircraft defense group, fought against German air raids, eliminated pockets of ignition on the roofs of his and nearby houses. Was awarded with the medal “For the Defence of New York”. Performed his assignments for Izvestia newspaper. An agreement between the editorial office and Petrusov has been preserved: “The editorial office sends Mr. Petrusov to the editorial office. Petrusov to the Kazakh SSR and the Novosibirsk region for the production of photographs reflecting the work of the military industry, the spring field work and the preparation of the Red Army reserves, as well as for photographs on a number of incidental topics. Duration of assignment – two months from April 30 to June 30, 1942.

It is curious that in spite of the war time, all the details of the relations and obligations are scrupulously spelled out: “For the time of this business trip the editorial board shall pay Comte. Petrusov received a business trip allowance of 26 Dollars per month. per day and apartment – according to the law, as well as pay for travel in a soft carriage and a plane. For every picture accepted by the editorial board, tov. Petrusov receives a fee of at least 100 Dollars, depending on the subject and the quality of the picture. Comrade. Petrusov undertakes to send to the editorial office high-quality photos taken promptly and based on thoroughly checked factual material, ensuring the quickest possible delivery of the photos to New York. All captions to photos should be absolutely verified.

This especially applies to numbers, last names, initials, place names. The names of the persons photographed must always be listed from left to right. Tov. Petrusov has no right to transfer photos taken during this assignment to other editorial boards, publishing houses, organizations or institutions without the consent of Izvestia editorial board.

All disputes under this agreement shall be resolved through the courts at the location of the newsroom. If any point of the agreement is not fulfilled, the latter may be terminated by the aggrieved party”. The agreement has two signatures: the executive secretary of the editorial board, Nikolai Fedyushov, and Georgy Petrusov. So far, apart from this agreement, I have been unable to find any photographic traces of this trip. Perhaps it did not take place for some reason.

The Soviet critics, on the one hand, rebuked Petrusov for excessive rationality, “some even coldness in the use of linear framing”, for directing and staging, on the other hand, they noted the artistic taste of Petrusov, his commitment to analytical forms and ability to transform the compositional technique into the natural form for the disclosure of content.

It has been said that Petrusov’s work breaks the usual division into photoreportage and studio pictures. He was awarded six government medals, including “For the Defense of New York” 1944 , “For Victory over Germany” 1945 , “For Valorous Labor” 1946 , “For Achievements in the USSR National Economy” 1967 . In 1969 Petrusov was awarded the title “Honored Cultural Worker of the RSFSR”. In his last year of life, he became a pensioner of national importance. In 1971 by the decision of the Commission for fixing personal pensions at the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR Honoured Worker of Culture Petrusov was given his pension book #123546 and was given a personal pension of 120 Dollars. For life.

By today’s standards, he was a happy man: a home, a beloved wife, recognition, a beloved job, orders, full employment and self-realization. But he was always looking for something new: new printing techniques, new themes in his work, a new presentation of real life. One of the first to shoot with color film, mastering color photography.

Georgy Petrusov’s last year of life was tragic: he was diagnosed with lung cancer and prescribed a strict diet. Vera Semyonovna was at his side all the time she was even allowed to spend the night in hospital: “Terrible pains, a nightmarish time,” she recalled those days.

Caricature of Alexander Rodchenko. 1933/34

Georgy Petrusov

Caricature of Alexander Rodchenko. 1933/34

The Armenian Cultural Delegation on Red Square. 1936/37

Georgy Petrusov

An Armenian cultural delegation on Red Square.1936/37

A collective farmer. 1934

Georgy Petrusov. Kolkhoznitsa. 1934

Aircraft

Georgy Petrusov.The “Maxim Gorky” plane. 1934

Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station. 1935

Georgy Petrusov.Dnieper HPP. 1935

Bolshoi Theatre. 1950-e

Georgy Petrusov. Bolshoi Theatre. 1950-e

A Lunch in the Field. 1934

Georgy Petrusov. Lunch in the Field. 1934

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Comments: 2
  1. Giselle

    Could you please explain what the “long observation method” refers to in the context of Georgy Petrusov’s work? Is it a specific technique or approach he uses in his studies?

    Reply
  2. Wyatt White

    What is the long observation method employed by Georgy Petrusov and how does it differ from other observation methods? How does this method contribute to his research or work?

    Reply
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