THE RUSSIANS
In 1977, Farb traveled to the USSR under the auspices of the USIA. In addition to exhibiting his work, he made portraits of a cross section of the people of Novosibirsk with a view camera and a Polaroid back. These Polaroid photographs also had negatives which were brought out of the Soviet Union in a diplomatic pouch. It became a book, Russen, Dumont, Koln, DE, 1980, followed by publication in: FR, IT, NL, and the US.
RUSSEN
Portraits of the USSR by Nathan Farb 1977 Outdoor Exhibit in Lenin Square, Novosibirsk, Russia 2020
MoMA owns and had displayed the image of the Party Chiefs (see below) for about 10 years. The J Paul Getty Museum in L.A just acquired 12 portraits from The Russians in 2021.
These People…Come Across As Characters From Dostoyevsky And Chekhov Stories.
— Edward Goldman, Huffington Post + NPR
