An exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the TASS Photo Chronicle opened at the State Museum of Fine Arts

The exhibition "100 Years of the TASS Newsreel" has opened at the State Historical Museum (GIM). A project dedicated to the history of the oldest photo service in Russia and the CIS countries has been deployed in two exhibition spaces, a TASS correspondent reports.

Alexey Levykin, Director of the State Historical Museum, thanked the partners for their help in organizing the exhibition and noted that it features iconic photographs depicting the most important events of the past century. The Historical Museum has its own collection of photographs, which was formed with the participation of TASS photojournalists.

The project was curated by Sergey Shakhidzhanyan, head of the editorial office of TASS photo information, and he and Valery Khristoforov, a veteran TASS Newsreel photographer and photojournalist, provided rare equipment from their personal collections for the exhibition.

Andrey Kondrashov, General Director of the Russian news agency TASS, also noted that the centenary of the TASS Newsreel speaks about a whole century of history, which is reflected in millions of photographs.

"With all these attempts to change something, correct something, and sometimes even break and completely distort our history, the TASS newsreel is a bulletproof vest that prevents anyone from distorting historical facts. Because any picture taken at that time, in that place, and by a particular photojournalist is the historical truth that we keep and are proud of today," Kondrashov said.

He added that 100 years later, 73 million photographs are stored in TASS, and every day this archive is replenished with thousands of new images.

As Shahijanyan noted, the participants of the opening ceremony were both current photojournalists and veterans of the TASS Newsreel, whose work created and is creating the visual chronicle of the country.

According to Valentin Chuguev, Director of the Shvabe Holding's Marketing and Exhibition Department at Rostec State Corporation, the holding is proud of its role in the development of Russian photojournalism.

"For decades, the cameras and lenses of the Krasnogorsk Plant have been reliable tools for TASS photojournalists who recorded the most important events in the country," says Chuguev.

About the exhibition

The retrospective part of the exhibition is presented at the Voskresensky Gate. Visitors will get acquainted with the history of photography, the evolution of equipment and the work of TASS photojournalists in different decades of the 20th century and today. For the first time, cameras and lenses used by the masters of Soviet and Russian photojournalism to create classic reportage shots are presented to the general public at the exhibition site in the center of Moscow.

Among the unique exhibits are the Iochim and K. camera, which was exactly the same in 1918 when Peter Otsup captured Lenin in the Kremlin, and the Fotokor—1 and Sport cameras, which Nikolai Kubeev, a photojournalist for the TASS Newsreel, used to film sports parades in the 1930s. Visitors will also see the famous "Annushka", a Leica IIIa rangefinder camera, with which Evgeny Khaldei went through the entire war and created the legendary "Banner of Victory over the Reichstag" frame.

A special place in the exhibition is occupied by works performed on the equipment of the Krasnogorsk plant named after S. A. Zverev (part of the Shvabe holding of Rostec State Corporation), including the modern digital Zenit-M.

The exhibition features iconic TASS footage from different eras that reflect the most important moments of Russian and world history. Viewers will also see videos about the technical characteristics of the cameras and the shooting methods used by the agency's photojournalists.

The modern section of the exposition is located in the open air in the Artillery Courtyard of the Historical Museum. It is dedicated to the work of TASS photojournalists in the special military operation zone. Visitors will see the work of the agency's military officers and learn how Alexander Reka, Dmitry Yagodkin, Alexey Konovalov and Alexander Polegenko, who live and work in the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, prepare reports on the courage of Russian soldiers and officers.

The exhibition, in particular, includes photographs depicting the combat work of the Grad MLRS crews, D-30 and D-20 howitzers, T-72B and T-80BV tanks and other military equipment. Visitors will also see footage about the training of assault units, operators of reconnaissance and attack unmanned aerial vehicles.

The exhibition is supported by the Krasnogorsk Plant named after S. A. Zverev, part of Rostec's Shvabe Holding.

The exhibition will be open to visitors until August 31, 2026.

TASS is the general information partner.