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Daughter Finds Box With 30,000 Never-Before-Seen Negatives In Attic, Her Jaw Drops When She Develops Them
Some artists don't live long enough to experience the recognition they get. Masha Ivashintsova was one of them. This Russian artist and theater critic had been heavily engaged in the Leningrad (now, Saint Petersburg) poetic and photography underground movement of the 1960−80s. Masha loved photography art as it always took a major role in her mysterious and painful life. However, she always kept her black and white photos hidden in her attic, never showing them even to her family. Until now.
Recently, her daughter Asya Ivashintsova-Melkumyan was going through her stuff and found a stunning collection of more than 30,000 vintage photos. After deciding to develop these photos, Asya was shocked to discover how well these interesting photos portrayed her mother’s life and the essence of everyday life in Russia.
“Of course, I knew that my mother was taking pictures all along. What was striking is that she never shared her beautiful photos with anyone, not even her family.” - Asya said of her mother's work. “She hoarded her photo-films in the attic and rarely developed them, so nobody was ever able to appreciate the fruits of her passion. Those same films remained in the attic of our house in Pushkin, Saint Petersburg, where she originally kept them, after her death in 2000.”
The darker period of Masha’s life took place in a USSR mental hospital. There, she was gradually broken by being forced to take drugs. The Soviet Russian Regime was aiming to 'standardize' people, to make them live by the Communist rules. This dehumanizing control system had a huge impact on Masha. It is also evident in her work. As her daughter says, "Masha had a difficult relationship with communism. She was eventually bulldozed by the party and committed to a mental hospital against her will for her «social sponging» as she could never assimilate to the all-encompassing, shouting world of socialist excitement."
Some people have already called Masha the 'Russian Vivian Maier.' Scroll down to check these stunning old photos and let us know if you agree with the nickname.
More info: mashaivashintsova.com (h/t demilked)
Meet, Masha Ivashintsova (1942−2000), a woman who was hiding about 30,000 photos she took in the USSR
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#2
Marta, Leningrad, USSR, 1978
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kathryn stretton 6 years ago
Sorry. I am upvoting every single photo on this thread. Can't help it. The STORY !!!! Sorry for shouting.
#6
Two Girls In Vologda, USSR, 1979
#7
A Ruined Statue Of Stalin In Leningrad, USSR, 1978
Bored Fox 6 years ago
Here in Finland we have a joke that someone should bring all the useless Lenin statues from Russia to Finland because he really looked like one of our beloved comedians, Spede Pasanen. But we don't need the Stalin statues because he does not look like any of our comedians. :)
#8
Melvar Melkumyan, Moscow, USSR, 1979
#9
Melvar Melkumyan With His And Mahsa’s Only Daughter, Asya, Moscow, USSR, 1976
#10
Linguist Melvar Melkumyan, Husband And Father, Leningrad, USSR, 1976
#11
Leningrad, USSR, 1975
P Piorecki 6 years ago
If I didn't know it any better, I would have thought this was St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Interesting...
#12
The Banks Of The Neva River In Leningrad, 1979
#13
Street Portrait In St. Petersburg, 1976
#14
Melvar Melkumyan, Moscow, USSR, 1983
#15
A Cosmonaut-Themed Playground In Leningrad
#16
Orehovo, USSR, 1976
#17
Tbilisi, 1989
#18
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#19
Leningrad, USSR, 1976
#20
Leningrad,USSR, 1975
Zori the degu 6 years ago
That building immediately reminded me of count Olaf's castle-like house. Pandas who have read "A series of unfortunate events" can relate.
#21
Boys
#22
Leningrad, USSR, 1985
#23
Leningrad, USSR, 1981
#24
Pixie-Faced Boys In Staraya Russa
#25
Tbilisi, 1989
#26
Leningrad,USSR, 1978
#27
Leningrad, USSR, 1976
Frank Muellersman 6 years ago
He is carrying a child. You can see it's foot by the top corner of the bag. But it does look like he is hugging someone. LOL
#28
Masha Ivashintsova With Her Lover, Photographer Boris Smelov, Leningrad, USSR, 1974
#29
Toy Store “Detsky Mir”, Dzerzhinsky Square, Moscow, USSR, 1983
#30
Leningrad, USSR, 1978
#31
Leningrad, USSR, 1979
#32
Leningrad, USSR. 1978
#33
Masha’s Lover Viktor Krivulin, Novolukoml, Byelorussian Ssr, 1979
#34
Leningrad, USSR, 1983
#35
Moscow,USSR, 1978
Lotta Roos 6 years ago
I think this is Gum, a big departement store. When I was there they had purple and pink night gowns. They also sold fish in big ice blocks, you would buy a piece of the block and hope you would get good parts of fish. We as foreigners could go to special shops and pay with forreign currency.
#36
Orehovo, USSR, 1976
DancingToMyself 6 years ago
"Orehovo" would mean "Nut's", if I'm not mistaken. "Oreh" means Nut.
#37
Leningrad,USSR, 1978
#38
Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 1994
#39
Portrait Of A Family Friend In 1974
Zori the degu 6 years ago
I noticed the other person in the shadow just now and nearly freaked out. Also, I've been in a similar room but the problem is that I can't remember where it could've been. I'm not sure if it had actually happened or my mind made it up. But every time I see a picture of a room with similar design, I remember being in an identical one, simply lying on a bed and starring at the ceiling. And that's one of those moments when I really start wondering if rebirth is really a thing.
#40
Leningrad, USSR, 1975
#41
Leningrad, USSR, 1991
#42
Leningrad,USSR, 1970
DancingToMyself 6 years ago
So they are completely relaxed, sitting around like it's a spring time. And temperature is probably -15°C.
#43
Nevsky Prospekt, Leningrad, USSR, 1975
#44
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Zori the degu 6 years ago
"Drawing portraits. Price by bargain"(left sign), "10 minutes give you eternity"(highest sign), "For 10-15 minutes I'd draw you a portrait"(lower signs, left one) and "Psychological portrait". I just thought some of you who doesn't know the language might like to now what it reads. Not that I know it, it's just that Bulgarian and Russian have some words in common. I found the psychological portrait interesting. Apparently, the term is used only in Russia and some neighbour countries and is drawn in a way that captures the personality of the one drawn on it. Or at least, that's how I understand it, reading from Wikipedia. It's only written in 3-4 languages and I speak none of them.
#45
Moscow, USSR, 1988
#47
Leningrad, USSR, 1977
#48
Leningrad, USSR, 1978
#49
Arseny Tarkovsky, Leningrad, USSR, 1981
#50
Leningrad, USSR, 1974
Ryan Wilkins 6 years ago
First image where you can tell the sun is out in the USSR! These pics are all truly amazing.
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What do you think ?
Ray Heap 6 years ago
I think that if people in the west had seen pictures like these, of people just like themselves instead of being spoon fed the image of the big bad freedom hating evil commie bear who want to kill the good guys, the cold war would have been over much sooner.
Rafaella Bueno 6 years ago
That's what media manipulation can do. It controls the side of the story people see in order to create the idea of the "enemy" and us vs them so they can get the public to agree with or at least ignore terrible things.
Load More Replies...
Ladies and Gentlemen 6 years ago
First thing came to my mind, have they uploaded 30,000 + Pics here on BP ???? Jeez.
Sayouri H 6 years ago
Also, how do they know the exact place where the pic has been taken... if it's just two girls with their mom on a couch.. I mean, dude. Seriously.
Load More Replies...
stellermatt 6 years ago
incredible. imagine how many other images sit unseen? these should be in a book, they give a great insight into a certain time in history of just 'normal' people, if such a thing exists.
Zori the degu 6 years ago
I wrote a book about my experiences with family, friends and their funny stories. My book motto was that there's no such thing like "normal" person. Everyone's weird in their own way and basically, "weird" is actually normal(after all, everything was the Big Bang/Chaos/something else at the beginning. Whichever you chose to believe in, it would be chaotic or at least unexpected). For instance, I'm currently sitting here, on my computer chair along with my corgi and wondering how old all these people are (if they are still alive, of course :( ) and basically thinking how they could've been in terms of character, lifestyle, etc.
Load More Replies... Ray Heap 6 years ago
I think that if people in the west had seen pictures like these, of people just like themselves instead of being spoon fed the image of the big bad freedom hating evil commie bear who want to kill the good guys, the cold war would have been over much sooner.
Rafaella Bueno 6 years ago
That's what media manipulation can do. It controls the side of the story people see in order to create the idea of the "enemy" and us vs them so they can get the public to agree with or at least ignore terrible things.
Load More Replies... Ladies and Gentlemen 6 years ago
First thing came to my mind, have they uploaded 30,000 + Pics here on BP ???? Jeez.
Sayouri H 6 years ago
Also, how do they know the exact place where the pic has been taken... if it's just two girls with their mom on a couch.. I mean, dude. Seriously.
Load More Replies... stellermatt 6 years ago
incredible. imagine how many other images sit unseen? these should be in a book, they give a great insight into a certain time in history of just 'normal' people, if such a thing exists.
Zori the degu 6 years ago
I wrote a book about my experiences with family, friends and their funny stories. My book motto was that there's no such thing like "normal" person. Everyone's weird in their own way and basically, "weird" is actually normal(after all, everything was the Big Bang/Chaos/something else at the beginning. Whichever you chose to believe in, it would be chaotic or at least unexpected). For instance, I'm currently sitting here, on my computer chair along with my corgi and wondering how old all these people are (if they are still alive, of course :( ) and basically thinking how they could've been in terms of character, lifestyle, etc.
Load More Replies...
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