Photojournalism Education in the USSR in the 1920S – early 1930S
Download paperSenior Lecturer at the Chair of Photojournalism and Media Technologies, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; ORCID 0009-0009-3695-3878
e-mail: romakina@mail.ruSection: Education in Journalism
The article educes, systematizes and analyzes data about educational programs of the 1920s – early 1930s aimed at training photojournalists in the USSR. The concept of “program” is interpreted broadly: it includes not only profession- oriented courses and lecture series but also educational publications and series of publications, which, due to the lack of systematic training of photojournalists in the period under study, served as a kind of professional school for existing and future press employees. Information about the history of the creation and functioning of programs implemented by various institutions – public organizations (Association of Photo Reporters, ODSK), a university (GIZH), a photo agency (TASS Press- cliché), the media (magazines “Ogonyok”, “Sovetskoe Foto”) was reconstructed. A comparative analysis of their structure, thematic and methodological aspects was also conducted. A special feature of the first stage of the development of photojournalism education in the USSR (1920s – early 1930s) is the multipolarity of learning initiatives. The combination of face-to-face and extramural courses made it possible to involve both Moscow-based and regional educators. Practicing photojournalists were involved in teaching – the workshop method of training, which was the main one in the field of photography in pre-revolutionary Russia and was justified due to the practical orientation of the craft, was preserved and raised to a new level: from training in a narrow circle of colleagues in a photo studio – to seminars and lectures in courses where the number of students was already in the dozens. A feature of the period under study is the hyper-active participation of the media in the training of photojournalists, which helped establish this profession by the early 1930s relatively mass.
DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2024.139167References:
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