Center is Looking for Photo Collages from the 1940s and 1950s

The Center for Urban History is looking for photo collages that were created in the twentieth century to commemorate a trip to a city, an event, or a place. The collection of materials is the first stage of research by our researcher, the head of the Urban Media Archive project Anastasia Kholyavka.

Such photo collages look like a combination of portrait photography, city photos, and textual additions (often in Russian, as they were made in the Soviet period), such as: "For a long memory" or "For a memory from Lviv." From the mid-1940s, such photo collages became widespread under the influence of military travel, and by the late 1950s, they acquired intricate decorative forms and broader functions, such as reminders, gifts, and communication.

Due to the specifics of the creation and purpose of postcards, photo collages are now mostly kept in family collections. We encourage you to look through your own archives and share your findings with us.

We will sign usage agreements with the owners of the photo collages. After digitizing the materials, we will return the originals to the owners.

Contact: Anastasia Kholyavka, [email protected], +38 0975823023

You can learn more about the archive's work and materials acceptance on the Urban Media Archive page.

Credits

Cover Image: image 925 from the collection of Andriy Dostlev