The Manhoffs left behind a colorful portrait of Soviet city life through their photos and letters.
Whether shooting Moscow street scenes from a chauffeured car, or writing home about their experiences, U.S. Army Major Martin Manhoff and his wife Jan were piecing together an intimate, vivid portrait of life behind the Iron Curtain in the early 1950s.
Martin's official duties as assistant army attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow were to serve as a liaison to Soviet military contacts. In all likelihood, however, he was also there to gather intelligence and peer into the vast changes going on in the U.S.S.R. as it emerged from the devastation of World War II and the Cold War deepened.
The large collection of color photographs and 16 mm film he shot reveals the rapid development of Soviet infrastructure. Martin's images clearly show the construction of the Stalinist skyscrapers known as the "Seven Sisters," and other projects intended to symbolize the U.S.S.R.'s emergence as a superpower.
But they also stand on their own artistically, evidence of an eye drawn to streetscapes, skylines, and people's everyday lives, not to mention the pageantry intrinsic to communist rule.
19 мар 2017
