This photograph shows a retired couple in their home in Moscow, Russia after the disbanding of the USSR. The couple struggles to make ends meet in the new Russian economy. She is a former scientist, and he is a former accountant.
The photo was taken by Gerd Ludwig, a German photojournalist who focuses his work mainly in Russia and the former Soviet Union countries. Ludwig first studied literature, political science and physical education at University of Marburg in Germany. After dropping out, he held jobs as a bricklayer, dishwasher, sailor, and gardener. He later studied photography under Professor Otto Steinert at Folkwagschule in Essen. He co-founded VISUM, Germany’s first photographer-owned photo agency. He has photographed for German magazines, Geo, Stern, Spiegel, Zeit-Magazin as well as Time and LIFE (gerdludwig.com).
His father was in the Germany Sixth Army that invaded the USSR in 1942, and thus Ludwig became part of the guilt-ridden post-war generation. Most of his photographs focus on the impact that the new openness of government was having on the daily lives of Russian people. Ludwig shows the grim social and economic situations of these people, yet there is usually a sense of contagious optimism in Ludwig’s photographs (Photojournalism 1855 to the Present).
This photo appears in the Ludwig’s collection on his personal website under the heading “Daily Life.” The photo was taken after the fall of the USSR in 1991. His optimism is the focus of this photo—although the couple is wondering how they will pay their bills and keep food on their table, they still have smiles on their faces and playful affection for one another.
Emotion is the strongest news value displayed in this photo; it also contains timeliness for the time and situation in which it was taken as well as artistic sensibilities. The optimism in the photo also holds strong feelings of impact and conflict. The new government in Russia was controversial among people in the country, yet the viewer is seeing this couple outside this conflict which is a strong contrast in itself.
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