Conditions for Cooperation of Photo Correspondents with Soyuzfoto (a Case Study of the Photocor Newspaper, 1931–1933)

Section: History of Journalism

The article presents the results of an investigation into the publications of the Photocor newspaper (September 1931 – February 1933) aimed at developing the photo correspondent network of the Soyuzfoto photo agency, responsibility for which was assigned to the Mass Department in the central Moscow office and regional offices. Photocor's publications contain a mixture of documentary information and narratives, primary and secondary data, they are focused on an external professional audience and are ideologically colored, which is expressed primarily in the choice of lexical units. Considering this number of features, in order to systematize the information given in Photocor about the conditions for cooperation between photo correspondents and Soyuzfoto, the author of this article identified problem-thematic groups that characterize various aspects of this process (organizational, technical-aesthetic, ideological, philological, economic, technological) and then consistently reconstructs the historical evidence on each group of problems. Soyuzfoto's cooperation with photo correspondents can be characterized as direct, linear and represented in the form of the following communication scheme: establishing a primary connection – receiving a press card and a thematic plan – shooting and sending negatives with text messages – receiving a fee and technical advice on rejected negatives and the return of rejected negatives. The most active authors were also supported by parcels with photographic materials. Soyuzfoto registered an increase in the number of photo correspondents in the period from 32 in November 1931 to 625 in January 1933, but found this number insufficient, which indicates both the effectiveness of Photocor’ publications and at the same time the limited potential of the newspaper's resource. <br>

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To cite this article: Romakina M.A. (2023) Usloviya sotrudnichestva fotokorrespondentov s «Soyuzfoto» (po materialam gazety «Fotokor» 1931–1933 gg.) [Conditions for Cooperation of Photo Correspondents with Soyuzfoto (a Case Study of the Photocor Newspaper, 1931–1933)]. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika 3: 92–116. DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.3.2023.92116