The Commissar Vanishes offers a chilling look at how Joseph Stalin manipulated the science of photography to advance his own political career and to erase the memory of his victims. On Stalin's orders, purged rivals were airbrushed from group portraits, and crowd scenes were altered to depict even greater legions of the faithful. For example, a 1919 photograph showing a large crowd of Bolsheviks clustered around Lenin, became, with the aid of the retoucher, an intimate portrait of Lenin and Stalin sitting alone, and then, in a later version, of Stalin by himself. In each case, the juxtaposition of the original and the doctored images yields a fascinating - and often terrifying and tragic - insight into one of the darkest chapters of modern history.
| ISBN: | 9781849762519 |
| Publication date: | 6th February 2014 |
| Author: | David King |
| Publisher: | Tate Publishing |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 231 pages |
| Genres: |
European history |
The Commissar Vanishes offers a chilling look at how Joseph Stalin manipulated the science of photography to advance his own political career and to erase the memory of his victims. On Stalin's orders, purged rivals were airbrushed from group portraits, and crowd scenes were altered to depict even greater legions of the faithful. For example, a 1919 photograph showing a large crowd of Bolsheviks clustered around Lenin, became, with the aid of the retoucher, an intimate portrait of Lenin and Stalin sitting alone, and then, in a later version, of Stalin by himself. In each case, the juxtaposition of the original and the doctored images yields a fascinating - and often terrifying and tragic - insight into one of the darkest chapters of modern history.
The Commissar Vanishes features in the following genres: European history
The Commissar Vanishes is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Commissar Vanishes was written by David King and published by Tate Publishing
The Commissar Vanishes has 231 pages