Back in the USSR

Although he shot thousands of documentary images of Soviet workers, students and wartime battlefields during his long career (and later served as photo editor of the U.S.S.R.'s Life-like picture tabloid Ogonyak), Communist-era photojournalist Semyon Fridlyand remains little known in the West. Until now, that is: The University of Denver, which...

By Susan Froyd

March 6, 2008

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Although he shot thousands of documentary images of Soviet workers, students and wartime battlefields during his long career (and later served as photo editor of the U.S.S.R.'s Life-like picture tabloid Ogonyak), Communist-era photojournalist Semyon Fridlyand remains little known in the West. Until now, that is: The University of Denver, which houses the massive Fridlyand Archive, has created a more accessible collection through digital documentation during the last year, culminating in the exhibition On the Road: Photography of the Soviet Empire, on display at the Victoria H. Myhren Gallery, 2121 East Asbury Avenue. The accompanying catalogue — a collaboration between gallery director Dan Jacobs and David Shneer of the DU Center for Judaic Studies that features more than fifty bold images — will no doubt further help resurrect Fridlyand's fascinating eye and artistry. Amazingly, this is the first major exhibition of Fridlyand's work, which remained under wraps in Moscow until 2005 before coming to Denver.

On the Road continues through May 4; go to www.du.edu/art/myhrengalley.htm or call 303-871-3716.
March 6-May 4, 2008

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Susan Froyd started writing for Westword as the "Thrills" editor in 1992 and never quite left the fold. These days she still freelances for the paper in addition to walking her dogs, enjoying cheap ethnic food and reading voraciously. Sometimes she writes poetry.

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