Alexander Mikhailovich Rodchenko (1891–1956), one of the leaders of the Russian avant-garde, an innovator in the field of painting, sculpture, and book, poster, film and theater design, began taking photographs in 1924. His experimental approach to photography forever changed the history of this art form and influenced not only his contemporaries, but also determined the development of photography for decades to come. Using techniques such as shooting from an unusual angle (extreme viewpoints from above or below), which immediately became known as “rodchenkovsky”; diagonal construction of compositions, defining the dynamics and rhythm of the photograph; detail and close-up shots; the use of double exposure and delicate work with black and white contrasts, Rodchenko strove, as Osip Brik wrote, to turn a familiar thing into “a seemingly never before seen construction”, to change a person’s usual view of the world, and to expand the possibilities of “seeing things”.
