Figure 1.-- We do not know anything about these girls photographed by Masha Ivashintsova. All we know is that the photigrph was taken in Vologda, a city in northwest Russia during 1979.

Masha Ivashintsova was born (1942- ). Her family had been had ben aristocratic. They had their possessions seized ny thr Bolsheviks, but survived. She became a theater critic and an artist. Her real love, however was photograohy. She obtained two high-quality camras, a Leica and Rolleiflex -- some thing not easy to do in the Soviet Union. On her own iniative as ha obby, she took some 30,000 photographs of her family and every day life in Leningrad (modern Saint Petersburg). She was active as soon as she became an adult (1960s-80s). As far as we know, she never duscussed her hobby with anyone. Her photography slowed, but did not end when her mental health deterioirated. She lost her job (1981). Being unemployed was illegal in the Soviet Union. She had to admit herself into a seies of mental institutions. Her family was aware that she was taking photographs, but for whatever reason, she never showed any of her work to anyone--even her family. Probably it would have been too expensive to print many of her images. But it is strange that she did not print some of her family images. She died of cancer (2000). After Ivashintsova's death, her daughter found boxes of negtives and undeveloped film. This was only made public in 2018. And very fe of her images ave yet been made public. Ivashintsova treasure trovre of black and white photogrphs is a view of the spirit of the times of imense hisorical importance.

Created: 6:08 AM 10/9/2021
Last updated: 6:08 AM 10/9/2021