Life in photography: 100 years of Yakov Ryumkin

The last day before the war. 1941 // In the 1920s young Yakov Ryumkin (born in 1913) was cleaning shoes at the entrance of a Kharkov local newspaper editorial office.

Stalingrad. 1943 // Very soon the smart lad gained sympathy of the editorial staff. At first Yakov became a delivery boy, and then a press photographer assistant.

Stalingrad. 1943 // Yakov Ryumkin became a well-known photojournalist. He worked in the “Pravda” newspaper and in the “Ogonek” magazine. He travelled all over the USSR and left an heritage of touching, vivid photographs.

People go back to Stalingrad. 1943 // As a soldier Yakov Ryumkin has gone through the Second World War from the first to the last day, he was practically at all fields of war, he was injured and bruised.

Berlin. 1945 // Yakov was rewarded the Order of the Patriotic War and the Order of Wartime Red Star. He rarely handled a weapon – his weapon was a photo camera.

The Aviation Day. Tushino, near Moscow. 1950s // But the real soft spot of the photographer was love for children, which is excusable to a person who has gone through the war, as our strength and our future lies up in children.

Young fathers in Moscow. 1950s // The photo diary of Yakov Rumkin is not just “memorials of past time”. His photo diary reveals the points which Soviet people have lived through and which people have achieved.

Young boxers. 1960s // To find the key point, the core among tremendous variety of occurrences – that is what the genuine mastership is.

Newborn babies. 1950s // “None of my photographs has been taken purposely”, Yakov Ryumkin said. There are no posed photographs among Ryumkin’s works, all of them were created with great love and warmth of feelings.

Poultry farm. 1950s // People of art, polar explorers, sailormen, steel melters hold a specific place in Yakov Ryumkin’s photo diary.

Piglet. 1950s // Ryumkin shooted various events which he faced. He took photographs not only of celebreties, but everyday people of working class. Being notorious photographer did not prevent him to visit remote villages and farms of Russia and other Soviet republics.

ABC. 1950s // Yakov was called the most on-the-spot photojournalist of the USSR.

The Aviation Day. Tushino, near Moscow. 1950s // The exhibition of Yakov Ryumkin’s photography “Take your chance to live” dedicated to the author’s 100th anniversary, is shown in the The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography from February 13 to April 7.

Moscow. 1950s // The exposition includes more than 50 photographs of military and post-military periods. All photographs are hand-printed from original author negatives.