There’s nothing like a bit of contrast and historical perspective to make you reevaluate what’s going on in the world now. Many people, especially those living in the West, still have very little understanding of what everyday life was like behind the Iron Curtain. That’s where the ‘Soviet Visuals’ social media project comes in. It collects and shares historical photos, propaganda posters, illustrations, and architectural images from the USSR in order to give people a better understanding of the Soviet and post-Soviet eras.
If you’re fans of history and old-timey photography, dear Pandas, then this is the article for you. Remember to upvote your fave pics as you scroll down. And if you grew up in the former USSR, let us know in the comments what life was really like back then. The good, the bad, the ugly—don’t skip out on the details.
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Bored Panda spoke to the founder of the aesthetic time capsule that is the ‘Soviet Visuals’ project, Varia Bortsova. She was kind enough to answer our questions. “I always really enjoyed rummaging through old family VHS tapes and magazine cutouts, and starting a Twitter account became a way to share these findings with the world,” she told us. “Over time, more and more people started to contribute their own visuals and it evolved into a real community. I started the project on my own but now have two awesome researchers on board who help source new archive content daily and process user submissions.”
We were interested to hear Varia’s thoughts about why ‘Soviet Visuals’ became so successful. “A couple of reasons, I think. Soviet Visuals content feeds an appetite for vintage aesthetics: from design, to fashion, to architecture, to music. A lot of what was produced behind the Iron Curtain was actually exceptionally creative (despite, or sometimes due to the various ideological constraints),” she said. Scroll down for the full interview.
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#1 Soviet Postcard, 1955
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
“The stereotype tends to be that ‘Soviet = gray,’ but it is truly anything but, and going down the Soviet content rabbit hole can be a rewarding and addictive experience,” Varia told Bored Panda.
“There is an infinite amount of humor and beauty to discover. And on a separate level, the historical propaganda visuals are highly topical in today’s world—people make connections to what is happening today in politics, in international relations, in society… It’s fascinating to look back and see certain parallels. For example, Soviet vaccine campaign posters have been a particular hit in recent months,” she noted that history tends to repeat itself.
#2 Belka The Space Dog Upon Returning From Her Cosmic Voyage. USSR, August 1960
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#3 “We Are Not Raising Our Sons For War!” Soviet Poster, 1957
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
“Soviet Visuals is a time capsule of the past. It is most definitely not about promoting the Soviet regime or even justifying its existence. I think the overwhelming majority of our followers understand that. That said, someone on the internet will always feel insulted: in our case, the ratio of complaints is roughly 50/50 between ‘you are not pro-Soviet enough’ and ‘you are not ‘anti-Soviet enough’. For me, this means that we are in the right place,” the founder of ‘Soviet Visuals’ explained a bit about the online community.
Since launching the project, Varia has published a book, founded a small online store, and written up the entire history of ‘Soviet Visuals.’
#4 Post-Soviet Visual. Photo By Tatyana Rodionova
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#5 Children In Sleeping Bags Are Being Taken To Have Their Mid-Day Nap1930s, USSR
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#6 Babies Sleep Well In The Air In A Light Frost. Nursery №155. Dzerzhinsky District Of Moscow. Photographer Dmitry Baltermantz. 1958
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Image credits: Soviet Visuals
The ‘Soviet Visuals’ project is very popular on Facebook, with over 824.7k followers waiting for the newest updates. The page has over a third of a million followers on Twitter, as well as a further quarter of a million on Instagram.
The brutalist architecture, avant-garde art, and quirky photos all draw in quite a crowd. The project has fans all over the world, including from inside the former USSR, as well as elsewhere. ‘Soviet Visuals’ calls itself the “internet’s largest social archive of visuals from across the former USSR.”
#7 May Day Celebration. Photo By Ilya Pavlyuk, Lviv, Ukrainian SSR, 1968
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#8 Pictures Of A Russian Meteorologist Who Spent 30 Years At An Arctic Meteorology Base. By Evgenia Arbugaeva
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#9 Soviet Swimmer Maria Havrish Congratulates Her Rival Elena Kovalenko, Who Defeated Her In The Breaststroke Competition At The Spartakiad Of The Peoples Of The USSR In Moscow, 1956
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
The Soviet Union has its roots in the 1917 Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War. The USSR was formed in 1922 and was controlled, on all levels, by the Communist Party until eventually collapsing in 1991.
At the height of its power, the USSR encompassed 15 republics: Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Anyone who’s opened up a history book likely knows the extent of repressions that many living in these republics faced on their way to independence. The USSR has a legacy of violence that cannot be erased.
#10 Belka And Strelka, Soviet Space Dogs. Photo By Yuri Krivonosov, 1960
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#11 Post-Soviet Visual. Meanwhile In The Moscow Metro
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#12 Spring In Yakutsk, 1967
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
TikTok star Alyssa, who lives in the US, but is half Russian and half Ukrainian explained to Bored Panda that many outsiders are awestruck by how direct Russians are in how they communicate.
“In my experience, Americans who visit Russia are surprised at how directly Russians communicate. Russians say what they mean and don’t go out of their way to cushion your feelings the way that Americans are trained to do. Russians tend to value ‘honesty’ over ‘niceness,’” she said, adding that one way to bridge any culture gap is through food. “Lots and lots of food. Burgers and borsch.”
#13 Young Pioneers In Defense Drill. Photo By Viktor Bulla, Leningrad, USSR, 1937
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#14 Azerbaijani Wedding, USSR, 1965
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#15 Baby Yoda Is Just Capitalist Cheburashka. May The 4th Be With You!
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
Meanwhile, the moderators running the ‘A Normal Day in Russia’ subreddit shared with us that there is a constant challenge when it comes to stereotypes. Russian culture is often seen as one-dimensional in some parts of the world.
“We are trying to steer away from negative content and try to highlight the actual normal day in Russia, the beauty of the country, and the people who live there,” they said.
“Russian people are direct, they will not hide their feelings and they will tell you what’s on their mind, without sugarcoating. Yet, they will welcome you with open arms and treat you as part of the family.”
#16 Soviet Cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin And Gherman Titov In Their Flight Suits And Helmets, In A Bus Heading Toward The Vostok 1 Launch Site In Baykonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, USSR, On 12 April 1961. Gagarin Was Soon To Become Famous As The First Man In Space
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#17 School Pencil Case, USSR, 1970s
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#18 Boy Standing In Front Of Fallen Statue Of Lenin. Photo By Dario Mitidieri, Ethiopia, 1991
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
Some internet users have an overly romantic, naive, and unrealistic view of what living in the Soviet era was like. “If we go back in time where socialism or communism were at their prime, we can see that the top of the head of the system was corrupted and that resulted with the fall of the system,” Angel, the founder of ‘Humans of Capitalism,’ told Bored Panda previously.
In their view, developing technologies might bring about “automated communism where machines will produce, deliver, and take care of food supply, clothing, health.”
#19 Leonid Brezhnev And Erich Honecker. Photo By Helmuth Lohmann, Berlin, GDR, 1979
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#20 “69th Parallel” Hotel, Murmansk, USSR, 1970s
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#21 Post-Soviet Visual
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
They said that this kind of mass automation could be an extension of what is happening right now and could lead to even more major layoffs.
“The idea of getting free food, water, health, clothing, is nice and, in reality, if we take a closer look at the current system we can see that more people are let off and replaced by machines. For example, we can see that McDonald’s workers are fired and they have been replaced with machines that work on touch or by sound and they take orders, forward orders to the employees, etc.” According to them, the main question to answer would be who would manage and maintain these automated processes.
#22 “8 March-International Women’s Day” Soviet Postcard, 1961
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#23 World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov (Right) Holds Demo Game At The Sports Festival Dedicated To The XVIII Komsomol Congress. Photo By Vladimir Rodionov, USSR, 24 April 1978
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#24 “The Face Of Imperialism” Soviet Belarusian Poster, 1967
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#25 Ice Swimmers In Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, 1960s
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#26 Warsaw, Polish People’s Republic, 1980
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#27 Post-Soviet Visual
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#28 Dutch Fashion Models Sonja Bakker And Femke Van De Bosch In Moscow. Photo By Paul Huf, USSR 1965
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#29 A Massive Lenin Bust Hiding In An Apartment Building Stairwell In Khujand, Tajikistan. Photo – Artyom Kushneruk
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#30 The Remains Of A Concrete Apartment Building In Kirovsky, A Former Fisherman Village In Kamchatka Which Was Abandoned In 1964
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#31 Soviet Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev Was In Space When The Soviet Union Fell Apart In 1991. Unable To Return Home, He Had To Stay In Space Until Further Notice. The Cosmonaut Eventually Returned Back To Earth After 10 Months In Orbit – To A Very Different Nation. Photo By Volkov/Tass
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#32 Post-Soviet Visual. Fish Sellers In The Market Of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, March 1993
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#33 Post-Soviet Visual
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#34 “Down With CPSU”. Soviet Punks During The August 1991 Coup In Moscow
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#35 Bread On Sale In A Supermarket. Photo By Chris Niedenthal, Sofia, People’s Republic Of Bulgaria, 1985
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#36 Amanauz Hotel Abandoned During Construction, Dombay, USSR, 1985
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#37 Viktor Tsoi With Marianna Tsoi, Joanna Stingray, Yuri Kasparyan. New Year’s Eve Celebration. Photo By Anne Chantal-Petter, USSR, 1986
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#38 Self-Made New Year Robot Costume, USSR, 1964
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#39 Post-Soviet Visual. “The Return” Painting By Georgy Kurasov, Russia, 2005
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#40 Fidel Castro In Conversation With Yuri Gagarin. Photo By Valentin Sobolev, Havana, Cuba, 1961
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#41 Soviet Linguist, Epigrapher And Ethnographer Yuri Knorozov, Who Is Particularly Renowned For The Pivotal Role His Research Played In The Decipherment Of The Maya Script, The Writing System Used By The Pre-Columbian Maya Civilization Of Mesoamerica, 1971
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#42 Post-Soviet Visual. Dostoevsky Doppelgänger In The Moscow Metro
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#43 “New Apartment”. Photo By Nikolay Khorunzhiy, USSR, 1959
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#44 Post-Soviet Visual. Snacks
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#45 “My Grandma With Her Classmates. Lori Region, Armenia, 1966-1967”
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#46 Soviet Postcard, 1956
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#47 Sale Of New Year Tree Decorations At “Detsky Mir” Store. Photo By Pyotr Nosov, Moscow, USSR, December 1967
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#48 Post Soviet Visual. Warm-Up Of A Guard Of Honor Soldier, Russia, 1990s
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#49 Moscow, May 9, 1945
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#50 Post-Soviet Visual. Soldier Kissing Girlfriend In Moscow During October Coup. Photo By David Turnley, Russia, 1993
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#51 Kievskaya Metro Station. Photo By Dean Conger, Moscow, USSR, 1964
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#52 Vacationers Sunbathing On The Coast Of The Gulf Of Riga In Jurmala. Photo By Yakov Berliner, Latvian SSR, 1975
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#53 Crossing The Road. Photo By Vladimir Bogdanov, Leningrad, USSR, 1963
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#54 Snow Drifts In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Photo By Yuri Sadovnikov, USSR, 1968
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#55 Post-Soviet Visual. Modern Residential Building In The Outskirts Of Saint Petersburg That Houses Over 18,000 People
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#56 Soviet Policeman Outside Of The First Mcdonalds In The USSR, Moscow,1990
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#57 “Architect” Soviet Construction Kit For Children, 1980s
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#58 “Moscow Morning” Painting By Arkady Stavrovsky, USSR, 1972
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#59 Soviet Communal Apartment Made Of Plasticine. Artwork By Alexey Mikulin, Russia, 2019
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#60 Production Of Pepsi-Cola At The Tallinn Soft Drinks Plant, Estonian SSR, 1970s
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#61 “Literacy Is The Path To Communism” Soviet Poster, 1920
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#62 Electric Toothbrush, USSR, 1968
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#63 Paz 672 Soviet Minibus, 1967
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#64 Post Soviet Visual. Enjoying Ice Cream In Winter. Photo By Vladimir Bogdanov, Russia, 1990s
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#65 Grandfather Frost Greeting The Crew Of The Tu-144 Supersonic Airliner, Alma-Ata Airport, Kazakh SSR, 1977
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#66 Soviet New Year Party, 1969
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#67 “Italian Communist Party Sputnik-Car For Propaganda During Italian General Election, 1958” Via Antonio Ci
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#68 Soviet Mi-8 Helicopter In Afghanistan, 1980
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#69 Post-Soviet Visual. Russia, 2020
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#70 Post-Soviet Visual. Karl Marx Monument At Bitukha Village. Photo By Olga Ptashnik, Tver Region, Russia, 2009
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#71 Tea Peddler, Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, 1976
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#72 A Date On A White Night. Leningrad, USSR, 1977
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#73 Asphalt Roller Driver, USSR, 1960s
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#74 “Let Chinese-Soviet Friendship Live Forever!” Poster, PRC, 1959
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#75 To Whoever Needs To Hear This:
“Don’t Dry Clothes Washed In Gasoline By The Fire” (Soviet Fire Safety Poster)
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#76 “My Grandmother With My Dad Back In The 70’s In Vilnius, Lithuania” Via Anastasija
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#77 ‘What You Can Buy Instead Of 0.5l Of Vodka. 3 Apples, 400g Meat, 2kg Potatoes, 2kg Bread, 1l Milk, Onions, Pepper, Salt’ Soviet Poster
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#78 Public Beach In Yalta. Photo By Georg Oddner, Ukrainian SSR, 1967
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#79 Kindergarten. Photo By Thomas T. Hammond, USSR, 1964
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#80 “My Aunt On The Red Square, Moscow, USSR, 1971”
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#81 Na Zdorovie! Photo By Carl Mydans, USSR, 1960
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#82 “Taiga” Soviet Porcelain Teapot, 1933
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#83 “The Beauty Of Man Is In Labor” Soviet Porcelain Sugar Bowl, 1974
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#84 Soviet Winter, Chelyabinsk Region, 1950s
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#85 “Kosmos” Cafe, Gorky, USSR, 1963
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#86 American Model Jerry Hall Posing Next To Worker And Kolkhoz Woman Monument At The Exhibition Of Achievements Of National Economy In Moscow. Photo By By Norman Parkinson, USSR, 1975
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#87 Book Market, Kirov, USSR, 1960s
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#88 Waiting Room At The Marriage Registration Office. Tallinn, Estonian SSR, 1973
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#89 Post-Soviet Visual. Art Work By Mayana Nasybullova, Novosibirsk, Russia, 2017
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#90 “Buran” Soviet Space Shuttle, 1988
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#91 Post-Soviet Visual. Photo By Igor Mukhin, Russia, 1990s
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#92 Us-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Space Mission Crew. Photo: NASA, 1975
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#93 “Riga 16” Soviet Scooter Advertising Poster, 1977
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#94 “Solaris” Soviet Film Poster, 1972
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#95 Moscow, 1959
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#96 Family Dinner, USSR, 1950s
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#97 Soviet Ashtray, 1950s
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#98 “Lenin In Emigration, 1905” Painting By Emil Wiesel, USSR, 1927
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#99 Soviet Alarm Clock, 1960s
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#100 Soviet Actress Klara Luchko, 1968
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#101 Gas Station On Leninsky Avenue. Photo By Valentin Shiyanovsky, Moscow, USSR, 1974
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#102 Soviet Actress Natalya Klimova As Snow Queen, 1966
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#103 “Happy New Year!” Soviet Greeting Card, 1986
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#104 Medvedkovo Residential District. Photo By Lev Polikashin, Moscow, USSR, 1967
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#105 “Estonia 010″ Hi-Fi Stereo” Soviet Advertising Poster, 1980s
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#106 Computer Training, Estonian SSR, 1989
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#107 Photo By Sergei Borisov, USSR, 1989
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#108 Soviet Travel Poster, 1965
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#109 Fidel Castro On The Train From Irkutsk To Bratsk. USSR, 1963
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#110 Post-Soviet Visual. “On The Moon” Painting By Marina Fyodorova, Russia, 2018
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#111 Soviet Punk Lesha Uksus. Photo By Igor Mukhin, 1988
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#112 “Mozhet Byt'” (Maybe) Soviet Ladies Perfume, 1970s
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#113 Mural On The Building Of The Engine Room Of The Volga Hydroelectric Power Station. Photo By Vsevolod Tarasevich, Volgograd, USSR, 1968
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#114 “Blossom, Our Friendship!” Russian Ukrainian Friendship Postcard, 1960
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
#115 “Novo-Lenino. Terminus” Painting By Evgeny Shpirko, USSR, 1967
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#116 New Year Celebration. Photo By Nikolai Kozlovsky, USSR, 1961
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#117 Grocery Store In Pärnu, Estonian SSR 1971
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#118 Vietnamese Communist Leader Ho Chi Minh With East German Sailors In Stralsund Harbour, 1957
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#119 Diego Maradona In USSR, 1990
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#120 “Lithuania Is Flourishing In Fraternal Community” Soviet Poster, 1972
Image credits: Soviet Visuals
Source: boredpanda.com