World Press Photo Laureates from Russia and the Soviet Union 1955-2013

Uvais Akhtayev, the giant of Soviet basketball Master of Sports Uvais Akhtayev was called “the giant Soviet-basketball”. Akhtayev was 2 metres 29 cm tall and weighed 196 kg, the heaviest basketball player in this country. Given these anthropometric data, Uvais Akhtaev’s destiny was predetermined – basketball. Uvais was born in 1930 in the village of Vashendaroy, in the Shatoy district of Chechnya. He graduated from Alma-Ata College of Physical Education and began to play for the national team of Kazakhstan in 1946. While his real name was Uvais, people would refer to him with the Russian name of Vasya. According to friends’ accounts, Akhtaev’s appearance on the basketball court was a real sensation in Alma-Ata. At a time when the height of the tallest player did not exceed 190 cm, a 17-year-old giant made a huge impression. With the advent of Akhtayev, problems arose for all basketball teams. There was no three seconds rule at that time, or the limit of 30 seconds. So the task of Almaty players was simple: get hold of the ball and keep it until Vasya would heron-step across the court from his shield to that of his opponents, and give him a high pass. This done, he would place the ball in the basket. Meeting the Alma-Ata team on the court became a nightmare for any team, even the coolest. Coaches of rival teams thought up different tactics, which essentially boiled down to keeping Akhtayev and the ball at a distance from each other. Intercept all passes to Akhtayev was the order. But Uvais-Vasya, slow as he was, was inventive and moved skilfully around the court. People flocked to see games featuring Akhtayev. At one point, desperate rivals decided to “abduct” the giant’s shoes and uniform. This was before the match of the “Uralmash” and “Burevestnik”. The kidnappers’ reasoning was logical all right: it was not so easy to get hold of a uniform for Uvais Akhtayev for the game. But his fellow-players found a way out: they tore off the heels from Vasya’s regular shoes and had him play in his everyday shorts and shirt. Akhtayev’s sports career ended abruptly. He was not yet thirty when he developed diabetes and then suffered severe pneumonia. His strong constitution allowed him to cope with the disease, but doctors forbade him to play basketball again. Uvais came to Moscow for the last time in 1959, for the 11th Games of the Peoples of the USSR. They say he was as excited as a boy when he watched game after game. After that he said sadly: “I’ll be back in basketball, whatever it takes!” But he was already seriously ill and was walking with a cane. He never stepped on the court again. Uvais Akhtayev died in Grozny at age 48. The fine memories of Vasya live on, not only as a talented athlete, but as a person with a big and kind Caucasian heart. The stadium in the city of Grozny is named after him. Based on the article by Said-Emin Bitsoev (“Obshchaya gazeta” newspaper, December 2004) and Alexander Gomelsky’s Basketball. Secrets of Excellence.

1956 1st prize, SPORTS

Sergey Preobrazhensky – ITAR-TASS Photo “Playing basketball”. Uvais Akhtayev, an epic legend of Soviet basketball. Moscow.

1956 1st prize, SPORTS

Sergey Preobrazhensky – ITAR-TASS Photo “Playing basketball”. Uvais Akhtayev, an epic legend of Soviet basketball. Moscow.

WORLD PRESS PHOTO 59 Based on the article by V. Sharovsky, head of photography department, USSR Union of Journalists, member of the WPP International Jury. SF 1959 The Hague (Netherlands) held the annual exhibition of photojournalist reporting. This time it was attended by representatives from 18 countries showing their best reportage works. A total of 700 photos. Soviet masters of reportage prepared 98 works, all of them included in the exhibition. Members of the International Jury arrived in The Hague for the award ceremony a few days before the opening of the exhibition, located in the municipal museum. It consisted of representatives from seven countries: the USSR, the US, England, Hungary, Switzerland, Holland and the Federal Republic of Germany. Simon Klein, a veteran of photo reportage and the photo editor of the London “Daily Mirror”, was elected chair of the jury. Following a keenly debated exchange of opinions, 34 pictures were nominated for awards. All images presented for viewing to the jury were accompanied only by a serial number, which ensured full objectivity: neither the author nor the country of origin was known in the course of discussion and voting. All 34 photos to be discussed were divided into four sections: “News”, “People”, “Sports “, and “Reportage”. The first prize in the “News” category was awarded to Colin Fletcher (England) for a picture entitled “Crash”, second prize went to Oleg Tsesarsky (USSR) for his work “Incident on the Street”, and third prize to Daniel Camus (France) for “The Revolution in Cuba”. In the absence of outstanding entries, no awards for “Reportage” were conferred. The highest WPP exhibition award, Grand Prix, was given to Stanislaus Tereba. Pictures by Soviet artists were technically good, but, unfortunately, hardly any works cold be described as truly exciting. As in the previous years, our photojournalists apparently were not very inspired in preparing to participate in the exhibition. This is all the more regretful because our reporters do have authentic reportage, vivid in content and form. Meanwhile, interest in the creative work of masters of Soviet photographic reportage abroad is exceptionally high, and next year we will need to pay serious attention to a more careful selection of works.

1958 2nd prize, NEWS

Oleg Tsesarsky “Street incident”. Moscow.

1958 2nd prize, NEWS

Oleg Tsesarsky “Street incident”. Moscow.

WORLD PRESS PHOTO 63 IN THE HAGUE Based on the article by M. Bugaeva, member of the jury of World Press Photo 63 SF No 5. 1964 The popularity of the eighth World Press Photo exhibition in The Hague exceeded all previous ones: the exhibition committee received 2,157 works from 54 countries. The work of the jury proceeded in an atmosphere of hot debate and defending of opinions. As a result of the voting, the main prize was awarded to Malcolm Brown (USA) for his work “Self-immolation”. He also won the first prize in the “News” category. In the “Genre” category, first prize went to Peter Tomann (FRG) for a picture entitled “Horses on the Walk.” Second prize was awarded to Maya Okushko (USSR) for her work “The Bride”. The work of the jury is always tough – one must evaluate more than two thousand pictures and select the best ones. No jury can satisfy everybody. Yet one may say without exaggeration that the jury’s attention was primarily focussed on subjects reflecting the difficult and tragic circumstances in which people often find themselves in a capitalist society. Photographs of disasters warranted most attention. Only this can explain why the first prize was given to “Self-immolation”. I think that the jury has a great responsibility to the world’s photographic press when they evaluate the best photos produced during the year. It was possible to find many great works not dealing with tragedies but with human joys or progress in science. And one proof of this is the work by Maya Okushko, “The Bride”. The Soviet collection consisted of 173 works. Successes of Soviet photojournalists were noted in the Dutch press and at the press conference. In particular, people mentioned Vasily Malyshev’s “Badminton”. Many believed that there was every reason to give the first prize to that picture, but it was failed for “technical considerations”. The success of the Soviet collection should be consolidated in preparing works for the next international review of photojournalism, which will be held this year. One must certainly not forget that the ideological struggle continues and that journalists are in the forefront of this struggle. In 1963, when Maya Okushko was named a winner of WPP in the General News category, the photo of the year was a horrifying picture of self-immolation by a South Vietnamese Buddhist monk protesting against the policies of Ngo-Dinh Diem, a picture by American photojournalist Malcolm Brown. There was Black Death in that picture, while there was Life in the Maya Okushko image. Her photograph was executed in a simple, even severe painterly manner. With nothing supernatural. Although it was a very everyday genre scene – a young couple uniting their destinies at the Palace of Marriage – there was so much truth of life to be perceived in it ! In the penetrating look of the bride, tender and trustful, overflowing with feeling, with great and all-conquering power of love. How beautiful is this bride, how much charm and thirst for life one sees in her! This picture by Maya is a tale of a young life full of hope. “Joy of Life in the Art of Maya Okushko”. Berezin. SF No 3. 1964

1963 2nd prize, FEATURES

Maya Okushko – KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA “Bride”.

1963 2nd prize, FEATURES

Maya Okushko – KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA “Bride”.

Thirteen, unlucky for some December 18th 1962. I remember the morning rehearsal and evening premiere of Shostakovich’s Thirteenth Symphony, as if it were yesterday. And it might well not have taken place! We know that this symphony was based on five poems by Yevtushenko. One of them, “Babi Yar”, caused great resentment among Soviet ideologists. I’m not sure the composer was aware of it as he was working on the piece. And decided to cut off his nose to spite his face , as the saying goes. Great people do not do such things. Somehow or other, it was time for the premiere. A low-ranking officer from the ideological department of the CPSU Central Committee showed up at the morning rehearsal in the Conservatory’s Great Hall. During a short break, right in the dressing room, he informed those present of the opinion of his superiors that the “Thirteen”, which no one had ever heard, was not a good piece. He strictly “advised” the administration not to escalate the journalistic hysteria, and to try to stop western journalists from attending the premiere. In general, the symphony, even before its premiere, was beginning to live up to its serial number. On the eve of the performance, one of the main soloists got “sick” unexpectedly but luckily a replacement was able to be found. On the day of the premiere, conductor Kirill Kondrashin appeared for the mandatory morning run dressed in tails and bow tie, as if anticipating unexpected events associated with the mystical number. The “Week”, as befits an illustrative weekly, pre-arranged with the composer to run a big photo essay about his new work. I attended several rehearsals and became an unofficial member of the team on the evening of the premiere that helped me accompany the equipment to the Great Hall. During the first section, which featured Mozart, wishing to stay out of sight, I sat on the balcony with a crowd of Conservatory students. In those days, they were let in for concerts with just student cards. Then the second section began! The premiere of “Thirteen” was a success! The public responded with enthusiastic applause. Shostakovich was the first to step onto the stage afterwards. As always, he would not find his way to the geometric centre of the stage, he bowed modestly. He was looking down a little bit and slightly bowed his head as if in apology for composing such music. Or, maybe, for using those verses? Then he brought the author of poems to the stage. Upon seeing Yevtushenko, the entire audience broke out in a new wave of thunderous applause. The poet proudly raised his head towards the students and the gallery of the greatest composers and pressed his left hand to his heart. The biblical “in the beginning, there was the word” came to my mind Thus, holding each other’s hands, the poet and the composer, would come to bow to the audience numerous times. Later, in a letter to a friend, Shostakovich wrote, “... looking back on the path traversed, I say that I got double advertising – “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” and “Thirteenth Symphony”. It was very useful advertising. But when everything calms down and falls into place, it turns out that “Macbeth” and “Thirteenth” were just huff, as they say in the famous Nicolay Gogol’s short story “The Nose”. Victor Akhlomov

1963 Honourable mention, PORTRAITS

Victor Akhlomov – NEDELYA–IZVESTIA “Composer Dmitry Shostakovich”. The premiere of his Thirteenth Symphony at the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory.

1963 Honourable mention, PORTRAITS

Victor Akhlomov – NEDELYA–IZVESTIA “Composer Dmitry Shostakovich”. The premiere of his Thirteenth Symphony at the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory.

“Grand Prix” in the Russian version My brief and not very close acquaintance with Gennady in 1968 and 1972 became permanent after my “initiation” exhibition in the offices of “Sovetskoye Foto” magazine (1983); it was visited by such dignitaries as *Dmitry Baltermants himself, who invited me to work for the “Ogonyok” magazine. We became especially close during our work on the BAM epic Trans-Siberian Railway construction, in company with some 250 other photographers, television and radio journalists (incidentally, later, on my proposal, we started making new albums named “BAM Goes On” from our archives and new shoots). During one of our trips to BAM, I asked Gennady how that composition “- 55º” had come about, knowing only too well that he was a straightforward reporter, not a conceptual artist like me. Gennady was in a good mood (we had had a few drinks) and he told me th story of that famous photo, which earned the Soviet Union its only Grand Prix. The price of that “Grand”, as it turned out, was a bottle of vodka! In 1964, “Ogonyok” photographers were told to present their best pictures for a portfolio that was to go to World Press Photo. Gennady recalled his luckless trip to the Far North. On that trip, he got stuck at an Evenki camp for a month – the weather prevented all flights from landing or taking off. It so happened that the local reindeer herders began to die one after another. Traditions out there are centuries-old and are really venerated. The loss of each member of the community was a tragic event to be observed all over the village. Ritual followed ritual from camp to camp; visiting guests had to follow the locals, and vodka flowed. Yet off and on Gennady photographed that baby, and he remembered one shot in particular that he made in the terrible cold. Going through his contact sheets in the lab, he chose two photographs – a baby and a grand procession with the dead body, feeling that there was something special about them. Accidents don’t happen, as it is known, and soon next to a young, but talented colleague there appeared an old pro, reporter Yuri Korolyov, who, seeing the problem Gennady was grappling with, offered to help – for a bottle of vodka! Together, they mentally put that masterpiece together, and then engaged the help of another virtuoso, a technician called Zinaida Annie, nicknamed “Tsokotuha” which is a famous Russian traditional fairy-tale character known for her energy and savvy. Right in front of Gennady’s eyes, she took three of his shots and created the masterpiece. Then using the “blood salt” agent, she removed all that had to be removed and… earned her bottle of vodka. More bottles were to follow later on, for the team! First, one for news about the award, then another one for the prize, then for the award… it became almost a rerun of the Evenki camp story, except that now the toasts were “for your health” and not for a safe passage to a better world. P.S. I was once asked where Russian men get their talent from. From the bottom of that damned bottle I replied, as my eyes turned moist. Valery Koreshkov, winner of World Press Photo 78

1964 1st prize, FEATURES

Gennady Koposov – OGONYOK “Minus 55 degrees Centigrade”. Evenkia, USSR.

1964 1st prize, FEATURES

Gennady Koposov – OGONYOK “Minus 55 degrees Centigrade”. Evenkia, USSR.

Viacheslav Un Da-sin – ITAR-TASS Photo “Hurdles”. International 60 meters running hurdles competition for men.

1966 MOST ARTISTIC PRESS PHOTO, 3rd prize

1966 2nd prize, SPORTS

Viacheslav Un Da-sin – ITAR-TASS Photo “Motocross”. Moscow.