Photo Exhibition at Colorado State University Transports Viewers Through History of Soviet Union

Note to Editors: Images are available electronically by calling June Greist at (970) 491-1194.

Colorado State University’s Hatton Gallery will host an exhibition of work by Dmitri Baltermants, an official photographer to the Kremlin and the photoeditor of the popular news magazine "Ogonyok." The show, free and open to the public, will run will run Jan. 26-March 5 with an opening reception from 7-9 p.m. Jan. 26.

"Dmitri Baltermants: Images of the Soviet Union" will include more than 80 photos from this prominent Soviet photographer whose career spanned five decades. Recognized around the world, Baltermants visually documented the 20th century history of the Soviet Union. His photos captured wartime suffering, working class life in the postwar decades as well as official and unofficial images of the highest Soviet leaders.

Born in Warsaw in 1912, Baltermants became well known during WWII for his wartime photos published in "Izvestiya," the daily Communist party newspaper. He worked as a photojournalist and photo editor for "Ogonyok" from 1945-1990, the year of his death. He traveled across the Soviet Union and abroad to take photos of people from all levels of society-photos of working class people struggling to recover from the devastation of war to photos of statesmen at government meetings and conferences. He photographed every general secretary of the Soviet Communist party from Stalin to Gorbachev.

Through much of Baltermants’ life, the publication of images was strictly limited by Soviet party policy, and he was not allowed to publish many of his photographs when they were taken. Under the relative freedom of Khrushchev, the full breadth of his work began to become apparent. His first personal exhibit was in 1964 in London and was followed by many other exhibitions around the world. In 1992 his work was featured in a major retrospective exhibition at the International Center for Photography in New York.

The Baltermants exhibition at Colorado State is made possible, in part, through the generous support of Paul and Teresa Harbaugh.

Related events at Colorado State University include an exhibition titled "Igor Moukhin: Visions of Contemporary Russia," which will run March 22-April 30 with an opening reception at noon March 22 and a public lecture by the artist at 7 p.m. March 23 in the Lory Student Center Theatre on campus. Internationally known photo critic A.D. Coleman will speak at 7 p.m. April 14 in the Lory Student Center Theatre. A talk by Alison Smith, assistant professor of history, is scheduled for noon Feb. 4 in the Hatton Gallery, and the historical drama "East/West" will be shown at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 in the Lory Student Center Theatre. The film is presented by ASAP/CinemaCSU.

The Hatton Gallery is located in the Visual Arts Building on the Colorado State campus. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday. Visitor parking is available at the Z parking lot located on Meridian Avenue and Pitkin Street. Parking for evening events is free.

For more information, call (970) 491-1989.

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