The City in a Photograph -- The Urban Photography of Patricia Lochwin

Patricia Lochwin is an avid photographer whose work focuses on the city of Toronto and its architecture, nature and inhabitants.  She particularly likes night photography and capturing different weather conditions as a way of creating mood and bringing scenes to life.

This is a collection of some of her work. To see more of her exceptional photography you can follow her on Instagram at patrecesunflower

Arrival of the First Train at the Nizhneangarsk Station on the Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM) Railway, USSR 1979 -- Daily LIFT #60

Arrival of the First Train at the Nizhneangarsk Station on the Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM) Railway - USSR 1979

Much of the BAM was built between 1975-1979 with it being fully completed in 1984.

"The BAM sought to open up vast areas of Siberia economically. Many new communities were planned (and were built) for its route. (Numbers of these, tragically, became ghost towns with the collapse of the USSR). It was to also provide another rail access to the Pacific via ports like Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

In order to expedite construction the Communist Party called on its youth wing, the Komsomol, to send volunteers to help plan, engineer and build the line. Volunteer brigades from the whole of the Soviet Union were formed, often along republic lines, and tens-of-thousands of young workers went into action across the route."

To learn more about this largely forgotten tale of socialist construction and achievement see: Road of Courage and Heroism -- Building the BAM in the USSR 1979 and Riding the rails of the Soviet Union in 1984 - A look at the railway system of the USSR.

Born Ballerina

Born Ballerina - Yuri Abramochkin, photographer

Soviet Life Magazine, March 1983

Abramochkin, who died in 2018, was known for his iconic photos of various Soviet and international leaders and figures, but his extraordinary talent at capturing a moment in life really shines through in the this lovely photograph. 

Soviet Ulan-Ude 1973 -- 15 Vintage Images w. the World's Largest Lenin Bust

Ulan-Ude is a city that lies in the Siberian Far East near Lake Baikal and the Mongolian border. Its name means "Red Uda" in the Buryat language referring to both the communism of the USSR and the river Uda that runs through the city.

This folder of 15 photographs of the city and region was published in 1973 and is notable for a number of reasons. The postcards were aimed entirely at Soviet citizens and tourists as Ulan-Ude was closed to any visitors who were not from the Soviet Union.

At the time it had a population of slightly over 250,000. One thing the city was known for -- and still is as it is still there -- was its gigantic statue bust of Lenin's head, which is the largest of its type ever built. This was erected for the centenary of Lenin's birth in 1970 and sat in what was called the Square of the Soviets.

The snow-laden city hippodrome with horses is a great photo as are those of the train snaking along the Selenga River, the public stairs leading up to the House of Culture at the car repair plant, and the fascinating photo of the Orbita Station outside the city.

The Orbita Station was part of the world's first national satellite TV network that the Soviet Union launched in 1967. It allowed people living throughout the Soviet Far East to receive live television signals.

(Click on images to enlarge)

The Lenin Bust in the Square of the Soviets

Monument to V.I. Lenin

Tourist Hotel

Komsomolskaya Square

Orbita Station

50th Anniversary of October Prospect

Opera and Ballet Theater

Victory Avenue

50th Anniversary of October Place

Communist Party Regional Committee

At the City Hippodrome

Monument to the Heroes of the Civil War

In the Vicinity of the City

Government Building of the Buryat ASSR

House of Culture at the Car Repair Plant

Selenga River

Apparently this set of cards cost 53 kopecks 

See also: Road of Courage and Heroism -- Building the BAM in the USSR 1979

See also: Ulan Bator 1976 -- 18 Vintage Images of the Mongolian People's Republic Capital

Art: Lost Road

Art: Lost Road, Julia Laxer, Photograph

(Click on image to enlarge)

This piece was featured in this year's 

LAKESHORE / REXDALE YOUTH IN FOCUS

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography exhibition

The Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republics 1982 - History, Art & Development w. Photos & Illustrations

Recently we took a look at an overview of The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic 1982 - History, Art & Development w. Photos & Illustrations. 

Today we are looking at the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijan SSRs in 1982 also as gleaned from the pages of  an issue of the Soviet English language publication Socialism: Theory and Practice. The articles review various aspects of their development within the USSR and a brief overview of their art.

Just as in the case of the Kazakh SSR, this is a truly remarkable story of building industry, educational and scientific facilities, and cultural institutions in nations that had been subject to the oppressive colonial enforced backwardness of Czarism.

Interesting aspects touch on the Georgian festival of Tbilisoba, how mosques functioned in the republics, the oil industry, a history of the Transcaucasian Federation when all three republics were united at the beginning of the USSR, and the amazing story of the Azerbaijan couple who had 170 direct offspring between children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

As a bonus we have included some general "Information items" from the same issue such as the ascent of Soviet alpinists to the top of Mount Everest via a new route and the opening of a new house of cinema in Tashkent (the Uzbek SSR) for the Soviet Seventh International Film Festival of Afro-Asian and Latin American Countries.

(Click on scans to enlarge)

The central panel of the triptych "Yerevan Today" 

by S. Pipoyan (Armenian SSR)

"Construction Workers" by Z. Nizharadze (Georgian SSR)

"Spring in the Mountains" by N. Abdurakhmanov

(Azerbaijan SSR)

See also: Soviet Tourist Ads of the 1960s - "Intourist wishes you happy touring in the USSR"

See also: Visit the USSR - A look at the Soviet Union in the late 1960s from Intourist (w. photos)