Russian photographer Valentin Samarin has died at the age of 96.

Russian photographer Valentin Samarin has died at the age of 96. This was announced on March 22 in the press service of the Museum of the History of Photography in St. Petersburg.

"Valentin Samarin, a metaphysician of St. Petersburg photography, died today at the age of 97. Thank you, master, for being with us," the museum said in a post on the VKontakte social network.

Valentin Samarin participated in the first underground photography exhibition in Leningrad, "Under the Parachute," which opened in 1974. Later, in 1981, the photographer left the USSR and stayed in France as a political refugee.

During his 30 years in exile, Samarin has organized more than 90 exhibitions in Paris, Cologne, Munich, Amsterdam, Brussels and other cities around the world.