Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography

Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography is located in Moscow, in a building located on Bolotnaya Embankment, not far from the main attractions of the Russian capital – the Kremlin and Christ the Savior Cathedral. The uniqueness of this art venue is that it is both an exhibition organization and a museum, which attracts a huge number of visitors from all over the world, and the flow of interest never runs out.

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General information

The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography is named after the progenitors of cinema, and consists of the exhibition space itself, a gallery, a bookstore called “PhotoBookPoster”, a library, and a café. Having visited this amazing and remarkable place, you will not only plunge into the world of national and world photography, but also will be able to replenish your home collection with interesting book novelties. Not to mention that here you can relax with a cup of fragrant coffee, reflecting on the eternal power of art.

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There are many interesting corners and monuments of antiquity in Moscow, but true connoisseurs of photography among tourists are sure to find time to get to the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography for a tour to see the rich expositions devoted to the photographic art of the XX century, and not only Russian and Soviet, but also foreign. The unique collection of images taken in different years by reporters, club photographers, representatives of new and alternative directions in photography and other talented authors leaves no one indifferent, and tourists return here again and again.

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A little bit of background

The predecessor organization of the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography can be called, however unusual it may sound, a well-known throughout the country confectionery factory “Red October”. Its production facilities were located on this territory, and for quite a long time – from 1889 to 2007. And in 2010, on the initiative of the spouses Natalia Grigorieva-Litvinskaya and Eduard Litvinsky, an art platform was created, the exposition of which was based on their family photographic collection.

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What is the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography

The brainchild of the Litvinskiy spouses is located in an old mansion, the facade of which faces the Moscow River, and occupies an area of more than 1,000 square meters. The Center of Photography almost immediately became popular and, as they call it, fashionable not only in bohemian circles. Within its walls there are different people, not all of them belong to the world of culture and art, but all of them are united by a fiery love for photography.

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The organization has three exhibition halls, very spacious, which allows to exhibit more than 400 photographs. Exhibitions are held regularly, but the organization’s activities are not limited to them. In addition to the goals and objectives already mentioned, the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography has its own educational program, which we will talk about later. And what is also important: the staff is forming the basis for the future Museum of Photography, the status of which is seen not as metropolitan or even regional, but all-Russian.

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What to see

Despite the relative youth of the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, its rich collection of about 13,000 images is somewhat older – it is 15 years old. It brings together works by prominent Russian and foreign authors. For example, prominent Russian photographers of the late XIX – early XX century Yuri Eremin, Karl Bulla and Alexander Greenberg.

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A worthy place in the collection is occupied by original photographs by authors who worked in the early years of Soviet power – Georgy Zelma, Ivan Shagin, Emmanuel Evzerikhin, Max Alpert, Naum Granovsky, Mark Markov-Grinberg, Vladislav Mikosha. The era of the Soviet avant-garde, represented by such famous photographers as Boris Ignatovich, Arkady Shaikhet, Yakov Khalip, Mikhail Prechner, Alexander Radchenko, Georgy Petrusov, and Eleazar Langman, is of considerable interest to visitors.

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The last century was overshadowed for our country by bloody wars that claimed the lives of millions of compatriots, and the collection of the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography would be incomplete if it did not contain the relevant subject matter. Especially noteworthy are the reports of military photojournalists Evgeny Khaldey, who photographed Goring at the Nuremberg trials; Dmitry Baltermants, the most famous Soviet photographer and classic of military photojournalism; documentary photographer Robert Diament; and Pravda photojournalist Yakov Ryumkin, who went through the war from its very first days to the Victory. And this is by no means a complete list. Let us also name Georgy Lipskerov, Mikhail Trakhman, Vasily Kunyaev, Alexander Ustinov.

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You have probably heard about club photography, which combines features inherent in other trends in photography – paparazzi shots, photo reports about “stars” and ordinary amateur reportage photography that captures certain events. Nowadays, club photography has become known as “social chronicle for the poor”, but in the second half of the last century it was very much in demand and masters specializing in it were becoming popular, including in the former Soviet Union.

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One of the proofs of this is a unique collection of images of club photographers and reporters of the 60-70s, exhibited at the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography. Among them you will see works by Andrei Knyazev, Mikhail Savin, Nina Sviridova, Nikolai Drachinsky, Valentin Khukhlaev, Vladimir Lagrange, Lev Sherstennikov and other authors. The general public can also get acquainted with samples of club and reportage photography from the period of Khrushchev’s thaw and the first decade of Brezhnev’s rule. Images of these subjects are presented at the exhibition, which is called “Soviet Photo Art of the 1960s-1970s.”

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In the era of “stagnation” and perestroika years in the USSR, alternative directions in photography began to emerge. They too found a place in the Litvinskikhs’ Foundation. In particular, the Center presents unique works by Valery and Natalia Cherkashin, well-known contemporary photographers, artists and performance artists. The spouses are followers of the so-called “Kharkov school” of photography. You will also see prints by members of the Boba-group and Shilo associations, TASMA (Kazan) and TRIVA (Novokuznetsk) groups and such independent authors as Igor Savchenko, Vladimir Perventsev, Vyacheslav Tarnovetsky, Vladimir Antoshchenkov, Alexander Grashchenkov, Vladimir Filonov, Yuri Tranvillitsky.

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The gallery, which contains exclusively collectible photographs, deserves special attention. It is older than the Center and has been chronicling its history since 2001, being the first private photo gallery in Russia. It is a unique collection of works by highly professional masters, whose names are written in golden letters in the national and world photojournalism and photo art. For example, the part of the collection covering the period from the beginning of the 20th century to 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, is of constant interest. On these pictures we see a country that no longer exists, architecture characteristic of that time, people and their everyday life, unique natural landscapes. Contemplation of all this evokes nostalgic feelings, especially for representatives of older generations.

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Research activities

It is one thing just to see famous works and quite another to study them, analyze and even rethink them. This is the aim of the research program of the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, which focuses on the processes in Soviet and Russian photography, from the 1950s to the present day inclusive.

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For Soviet photography, for example, thematic orientation, adherence to certain genres was significant. This is evident in the exhibitions “Moscow Stories. XX century” (in two parts), “We”, “Icons of the 60-80s”, “PROzavod”, “Time of Bells” and a number of others. The works presented to the public are so professional that specialists in the field of photo art extend their research activities to them as well.

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Support for aspiring authors

The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography not only actively cooperates with professional photographers, but also provides all kinds of support for young domestic authors. And, of course, everything is done here to popularize Russian and foreign photographic art, including research in the field of media culture in general.

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To summarize, the educational program implemented by this prestigious art platform – by the way, the only one of its kind in Moscow – is aimed at providing novice masters with the necessary knowledge and experience. However, this is impossible without dialog, exchange of opinions and practical skills. And for such a public discussion between all participants of the photographic “scene” to take place, the Center has created all necessary conditions for it.

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An important component of the educational events are lectures and master classes, communication at the exhibition fields and creative meetings (for example, with Laurent Scheer and Steve Shapiro), not to mention guided tours of the exhibition halls and thematic film screenings. In addition, a special program called “White Balance” is being implemented. It is also aimed at popularization of photography, only in unconventional ways. What kind of ways? It is impossible to tell about it in two words. It is better to visit the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography and learn about it, as they call it, firsthand. The only thing we can say is that poetry evenings and concerts are held as part of the program.

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Interesting facts

  • The library of the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography has over two hundred unique books (both Russian and foreign) published since the 1930s. All of them are thematic, i.e. devoted to photography and photographic techniques. The shelves also contain old copies of magazines “Ogonyok” and “Soviet Photo”, which are impossible to leaf through without a pinching sense of nostalgia for the past.

  • The bookstore “PhotoBookPoster” presents more than 2 thousand titles of books and other publications on photography and art. This store is the only one in the Russian capital where you can find author’s books and zines (amateur, homemade magazines) by young Russian authors. The store also hosts presentations of books and photo albums.

Opening hours, how to get there

The Lumiere Brothers Center of Photography is located at the following address: Moscow, Bolotnaya Embankment, 3, building 1. You can get there by metro, the nearest stations are Polyanka and Kropotkinskaya.

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Days and hours of operation: Tuesday-Sunday from 12:00 to 21:00, Monday – day off.

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