Most iconic Soviet people captured by Moisei Nappelbaum (PHOTOS)

Moisei Nappelbaum, a jew born in the Imperial Russian city of Minsk, started his career as an apprentice in a local photographic studio. As a result, he learned the technology of taking and printing photos and managed to open two photographic studios - one in Moscow and another in St. Petersburg, right on Nevsky Prospekt, the city’s main street. 

Moisei Nappelbaum

Archive photo

His most iconic photo was taken in 1918 - a portrait of revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. And throughout the two following decades he took photographs of the most famous people in the Soviet Union, from politicians to poets and movie directors. 

Nappelbaum absolutely changed the way a studio portrait looks. He gave up strict poses and compositions, added a sense of life and used interesting angles. He played with light and shadow and achieved a psychological depth in the images of his models. 

Below are the most iconic portraits taken by Moisei Nappelbaum.

Politicians:

The first Soviet leader, Vladimir Lenin, 1918

Moisei Nappelbaum

Another leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and Stalin’s main competitor, Leon Trotsky, 1921

Moisei Nappelbaum

Lenin’s wife and revolutionary, Nadezhda Krupskaya, 1932

Moisei Nappelbaum

The main chekist, Felix Dzerzhinsky, 1921

Moisei Nappelbaum

Joseph Stalin

Moisei Nappelbaum

Literators:

Silver-age poet Alexander Blok, 1920

Moisei Nappelbaum

Silver age poet Sergei Yesenin, 1910s

Moisei Nappelbaum

Famous proletarian writer Maxim Gorky

Moisei Nappelbaum

Soviet writer Boris Pasternak, 1926

Moisei Nappelbaum

Legendary female poet Anna Akhmatova, 1922

Moisei Nappelbaum

Theater and cinema people:

Legendary Soviet movie director Sergei Eizenstein, 1930s

Moisei Nappelbaum

Legendary theater director Vsevolod Meyerhold, 1932

Moisei Nappelbaum

Theater director Konstantin Stanislavsky, 1938

Moisei Nappelbaum

Actress Faina Ranevskaya, 1928

Moisei Nappelbaum

Movie director Vsevolod Pudovkin, author of the iconic silent movie ‘Mother’, 1925

Moisei Nappelbaum

Musicians:

Dmitry Shostakovich 

Moisei Nappelbaum

Famous composer Aram Khachaturyan, 1939

Moisei Nappelbaum

Musician and composer Mstislav Rostropovich

Moisei Nappelbaum

If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.