Stalin, Trotzki and Photoshop. No MetaTalk snark attempt.
March 1, 2005 5:37 AM   Subscribe

As we know, Stalin gave order to perfectly remove Trotzki from older photographs. Are these pictures available somewhere?

The Egyptian and the Romans already removed people who became unpopular from stone reliefs. Trotzki was removed from photographs in which Lenin appeared. Are these photographs available somewhere?
posted by tcp to Society & Culture (10 answers total)
 
Yes.
posted by ikkyu2 at 5:50 AM on March 1, 2005


Best answer: A quick google search turned up this, and this.

Google search "Stalin Trotsky photos retouching."
posted by crunchland at 5:50 AM on March 1, 2005


Google search "Stalin Trotsky photos retouching.

You can see where tcp's obstacle to proper Googling was, yeah?
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:54 AM on March 1, 2005




Best answer: I would think some copies are available, if only because I've seen before/after comparisons on various History/Discovery/Learning Channel programs.

On a google image search (just plain ol' Trotsky) I found this, this, this, this (very slow loading), and this page. Some are ones that have been retouched where originals survived, others seem to be ones Stalin missed.
posted by Kellydamnit at 5:58 AM on March 1, 2005


'Trotzki' is an accepted German spelling of Trotsky, I think. And it looks like tcp is from Germany.
posted by carter at 6:33 AM on March 1, 2005


Best answer: I have that book - The Commissar Vanishes: The Falsification of Photographs and Art in Stalin's Russia - I bought it for like $5 at one of those book warehouses. One of the prizes of my book collection. You should find it - it's an amazing read.
posted by Quartermass at 9:41 AM on March 1, 2005


Best answer: As everyone else mentioned, The Commissar Vanishes. The book is over-sized (in a good way), the photos are huge, and the history attached to them explores the changes in policy and preference that put people out of favor over the years. Really, really, good book.
posted by whatzit at 12:15 PM on March 1, 2005


Best answer: 'Trotzki' is an accepted German spelling of Trotsky

And it's Trocki in Polish, but neither variant is much use as a search term on an English-language web site.

Anyway, here's an article (pdf) by David King, author of The Commissar Vanishes.
posted by pracowity at 12:53 PM on March 1, 2005


Response by poster: carter, you're right.
Thanks, everyone.
posted by tcp at 4:01 AM on March 2, 2005


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