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An exhibition of pictures by Pyotr Otsup features defining shots of Lenin and Stalin

Pyotr Otsup's name may not ring any bells, but his images are familiar to anyone who has studied modern history. His photographs of Josef Stalin, Vladimir Lenin and Mikhail Kalinin were repeatedly reprinted during the Soviet era, and appeared on posters, stamps and in textbooks.

An exhibition of his photographs at the Zurab Gallery, "The Space of Revolution: Russia. 1917-1941," opened on Thursday, the 90th anniversary of the October Revolution. Recordings of folk tunes sung during peasant rebellions in late 19th century, as well as Soviet-era music, played from loudspeakers as visitors browsed the exhibits.

"I've spoken to many people here ... and some of them have told me that this is the first time they realized what a great photographer Otsup was," said the curator of the exhibition, Irina Chmyreva. "Growing up under communism, people were constantly bombarded with poor reproductions of his photos and they never really looked at the pictures for what they were."
Read entire article at Moscow Times