Victory Streets: Izvestia exhibitions — on boulevards, at the airport and parks

Izvestia overlooks the boulevards of Moscow and the halls of St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport. Invaluable historical evidence — the great shots of newspaper photographers reflecting the most important stages of the Great Patriotic War — will appear on street stands, and QR codes on them will open access to the "animated" versions, allowing you to fully experience the drama of the events shown. The details are in our material.

Chroniclers of the Great Patriotic War

On the eve of the Victory Day celebration, Izvestia, together with its partners, organized photo exhibitions of rare archival footage from the Great Patriotic War. Until the end of May, they can be seen in Krasnaya Presnya Park, Hermitage Garden and Pulkovo Airport. In addition, photographs of Izvestia employees will become part of the expositions "War Correspondents on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War" on Gogol Boulevard and "The Day We Won" in Vorontsovsky Park.

Izvestia correspondents were among the main chroniclers of the war. In the early days of the Great Patriotic War, 52 employees of the publication went to the front. In total, from 1941 to 1945, more than 300 Izvestia soldiers worked on the front line. Among them are such outstanding photographers as Georgy Samsonov, Dmitry Baltermants, Pavel Troshkin, Georgy Khomzor, Mikhail Grachev, Anatoly Skurikhin, Anatoly Egorov and Georgy Zelma.

How did they see the war? What is the peculiarity of their view, expressed in the frames that have already become historical? Perhaps the main thing is optimism and faith in the coming victory, no matter what. Reports from the frontline were supposed not only to tell about key events — battles, assaults, breakthroughs, but also to inspire hope that the country would cope with the ordeal. And, of course, to celebrate the courage of Soviet soldiers.

Dmitry Baltermants' famous photograph "Attack" was taken in 1941 near Maloyaroslavets, at one of the most dramatic moments of the war. The photographer lay down in a trench, capturing soldiers jumping over it. And it turned out to be a hymn to a heroic impulse, full of aspiration and determination. The faces are practically invisible, these are no longer specific people, but a generalized image of the defenders of the country flying towards the enemy and Victory, then still so far away.

In turn, the 1945 photograph taken by David Trakhtenberg in Leningrad, where residents are clearing the monument to Peter the Great from the embankment with which it was sheltered during the blockade, is filled with a premonition of the imminent end of the war. But it shows the same incredible dynamics and popular impulse as Balterman's: the townspeople seem to be following the Bronze Horseman. Forward to the great future!

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Music behind the scenes

In the lens of the Georgian photojournalists, there are not only military operations, but also labor exploits in the rear, and the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers, and a few minutes of rest on the battlefields. What joy Anatoly Egorov's "Musical Moment" is filled with! 1945, the Polish city of Breslau (now Wroclaw), liberated by Soviet troops. Right on the street, near the tank, there is a harmonium, on which a young fighter is playing intently, and the tankers are listening to an impromptu concert with a smile.

You can see the Izvestia military officers themselves at the exhibition. Here they are: Evgeny Krieger, the famous Konstantin Simonov (the author of the poem "Wait for Me"), as well as their three colleagues from other publications, having fun at a rest stop in the tall grass. And only the wheel of a self-propelled gun visible in the background reminds us that this is not a picnic shot at all. Pavel Troshkin, another classic of Russian journalism, was standing behind the camera at that moment. Alas, unlike Simonov and Krieger, he was not destined to live to see Victory: in 1944, he died at the hands of Bandera.

Details about the creation of photographs, the people depicted on them, and the circumstances of the work of photo cameras can be found from the texts, some of them are placed directly on the stands, while others are available by QR codes. The links lead to a special Izvestia project dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory. And it contains not only a lot of valuable historical facts, but also a vivid interactive component: by clicking on the online version of the image, you can see how it animates and turns from black and white to color. The evidence of the past acquires a modern realism.

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The Long-awaited Victory

The set of photos in different locations is different, and, for example, in Pulkovo there is a thematic focus: where, if not at the airport, to show pictures with airplanes? Well, there are unexpectedly a lot of dramatic photos in Krasnaya Presnya Park: Georgy Zelma, who went through the entire Battle of Stalingrad, shows soldiers in a bullet-riddled building and against the backdrop of urban ruins, Pavel Troshkin creates a portrait of a wounded woman — an image of amazing purity, humility and sublimity.

Such plots, of course, contrast with the park atmosphere. And this is eloquent in its own way. The series turns out to be a reminder that such well-being as it is today has not always been. But no matter how hard it was, the people kept their strength of mind and perseverance in the face of threats.

Yes, there is no escaping tragic motives in a true, sincere narrative about the Great Patriotic War. Nevertheless, Izvestia's exhibitions are not about death, but about life. About loyalty to duty, profession, and country. About the ability to remain optimistic even in the most difficult moments. And, of course, about the long-awaited Victory that will surely come.