Souvenir Products for Large Families

The theme of this visual research is «The image of the family in Russian photographs of the 20th century». In the 20th century, many different processes took place simultaneously in Russia. The work covers the period from the 1900s to the 1980s. It seems to me that this period of time is unique in the way that it allows us to see how family constitution has been transformed in a very short period of time. From the usual patriarchal family, which existed for centuries, it passed into a new image. The study was conducted in several stages. First of all, it was decided to select the main events of history which determine the context of visual and written sources. Then I moved on to a more detailed examination of the archives with photographs, in which we can trace the transformation of the image of the family in big cities and villages. A compilation of photographs was made and analysed. Analysis includes the identification of the main compositional elements and the search for characteristic features of the time. The structure of the study is determined by the objectives assigned. The work includes seven independent sections. Each of them covers a certain historic time period in which significant events took place. These periods are distinguished according to the following principle: they had a great influence on the concept of family life. From 1917 to 1924 photography is deeply influenced by the idea of ​​a patriarchal, traditional family. The remaining time intervals modify the general structure of the family, so, by the 1980s, it is completely transformed from one to another, replaced by a nuclear family form. And in the photographs of this period, the freedom of composition, variety and variation of plots is traced. Due to the fact that the camera began to accompany the family on any trips and campaigns, the official photography was replaced by an amateur one.