Soviet Visuals

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 30 NOV. 2020

Bortsova, of the @sovietvisuals Twitter handle, delivers a quirky collection of imagery that depicts everyday life in the former Soviet Union. Emphasizing that the book's purpose isn't to celebrate or validate the U.S.S.R.'s political ideology, but rather to reveal "certain trivial elements of Soviet people's day-to-day existence," she organizes the images into chapters such as "Fashion and Design," "Family Time," and "Food and Drink." There are plenty of photographs (a toddler meeting a baby polar bear on Wrangel Island; children taking "light baths" in front of UV lamps to tackle Vitamin-D deficiencies) and posters (one shows a group of scientists discussing their work, captioned, "the power and future of our country is in the unity of production and science!"), as well as paintings (Rudolf Baranov's depiction of a woman operating a crane) and illustrations (among them a board game that promoted good hygiene). The work's strength lies in the way it forgoes political or social commentary (and doesn't take itself too seriously) in order to let the images do the talking. This is a perfect book for vintage enthusiasts and anyone with a soft spot for Soviet kitsch. .