Establishing Eye Contact with One Historical Photograph

摘要

Viktor Bulla's photograph Pioneers' Defense can reveal insights beyond its subject matter. Documenting an historical event near Leningrad in 1937, the carefully staged photograph gives the impression, through the gas masks covering every face during a respiratory defense exercise, that the state provided good health care for its masses of citizens. Spreading this message through supposedly documentary images played an active role in Soviet biopolitics.