The sexual revolution, which soon followed its October counterpart in the newborn Soviet Union, manifested freedom in everything. Bashfulness about one's body was perceived as a relic of bourgeois culture. Just about everyone started stripping off, and nude photography became a popular genre.
In those days, nudism was a novelty for the USSR. Sunbathing and swimming were good for health (and Soviet people had to be healthy), so after a hard working day collective farmers, workers and soldiers were encouraged to go to the nearest lake or river for a skinny dip. The 1920s even saw the appearance of the radical society “Down with shame!”, which believed that true gender equality could only be achieved au naturel. We get to the bottom of the matter, all too literally.
“Down with shame!” members on a nudist beach, 1928.
Leonoro Karel/russiainphoto.ru user archive
Poet Vladimir Mayakovsky’s muse, Lily Brik, in a transparent dress, 1924.
Alexander Rodchenko/MAMM/MDF/russiainphoto.ru
Nude, 1920s.
Alexander Grinberg/MAMM/MDF/russiainphoto.ru
Asya Zagorskaya, 1920s.
Alexander Grinberg/MAMM/MDF/russiainphoto.ru
Sunbathing in Crimea, 1933.
Leonoro Karel russiainphoto.ru user archive
Naked workers and collective farmers on a beach in Crimea, 1931.
Leonoro Karel/russiainphoto.ru user archive
Naked workers at the Proletarian Victory factory with children on vacation in Crimea, 1932.
Leonoro Karel russiainphoto.ru user archive
Naked workers at the Proletarian Victory factory on vacation in Crimea, 1932.
Leonoro Karel russiainphoto.ru user archive
Women's beach, 1934.
Leonoro Karel russiainphoto.ru user archive
Nude, 1930.
Nikolay Vechersky/MAMM/MDF/russiainphoto.ru
Collective farmers sunbathe on a beach in Crimea after the working day, 1931.
Leonoro Karel russiainphoto.ru user archive
Vacationers on the beach of the Kubuch sanatorium in Crimea, 1932.
Leonoro Karel russiainphoto.ru user archive
Komsomol members of the Standardbeton factory bathe in the Moskva River, 1940.
Leonoro Karel russiainphoto.ru user archive
Nude bathers on a beach near Sochi, 1940.
Leonoro Karel russiainphoto.ru user archiveIf using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.
Subscribe
to our newsletter!
Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox
