Until the early 1960s, there were very few amateur photographs of Severodvinsk. Cameras were then a rarity, and photographers preferred to capture not views of a city under construction, but groups of people and their loved ones.
Valentina Bakhtina (1913–1995) was one of the first photographers who contributed to the creation of the photographic chronicle of Severodvinsk. In 1939, Valentina Stanislavovna, a native of Vladivostok, together with her husband, later the eminent shipbuilder Innokenty Bakhtin, came to the city (then it was still called Molotovsk). Young people lived on the Yagry island, in cottages for engineering and technical workers.
During the war, Valentina Stanislavovna worked in the factory committee and was actively involved in social activities. Her husband built warships and was a soldier of the Molotovsk fighter battalion. The Bakhtins did not lack money and were very fond of all technical innovations. They were among the first in the city to buy a washing machine, TV and radio. In 1954, Valentina Bakhtina decided to master the art of photography. Not only friends but children of acquaintances and nephews appeared in her pictures. She also photographed the city - many of the pictures in the exposition of the Severodvinsk Museum were taken with this particular camera.
Favorite shooting location was the balcony in the Bakhtins’ apartment on the second floor at 13/42 on Lenin Avenue. The life of the main square of the city is captured from one point. Construction of the building of the Palace of Culture, improvement and asphalting of the square, construction of snow figures in winter and festive demonstrations. The most important in the history of the city were photographs that captured the visit of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev in 1962.
The Soviet FED camera was not chosen by the Bakhtins for purchase by chance: it had a high quality of images and was easy to use. The owner liked the camera so much that when more advanced devices of other brands appeared on sale, Valentina Stanislavovna preferred FED to them. In the bathroom of the Bakhtins’ apartment, she set up a photographic laboratory: she developed the film herself and printed photographs. The pictures were made out in photo albums and necessarily signed.
Valentina Bakhtina (1913–1995) was one of the first photographers who contributed to the creation of the photographic chronicle of Severodvinsk. In 1939, Valentina Stanislavovna, a native of Vladivostok, together with her husband, later the eminent shipbuilder Innokenty Bakhtin, came to the city (then it was still called Molotovsk). Young people lived on the Yagry island, in cottages for engineering and technical workers.
During the war, Valentina Stanislavovna worked in the factory committee and was actively involved in social activities. Her husband built warships and was a soldier of the Molotovsk fighter battalion. The Bakhtins did not lack money and were very fond of all technical innovations. They were among the first in the city to buy a washing machine, TV and radio. In 1954, Valentina Bakhtina decided to master the art of photography. Not only friends but children of acquaintances and nephews appeared in her pictures. She also photographed the city - many of the pictures in the exposition of the Severodvinsk Museum were taken with this particular camera.
Favorite shooting location was the balcony in the Bakhtins’ apartment on the second floor at 13/42 on Lenin Avenue. The life of the main square of the city is captured from one point. Construction of the building of the Palace of Culture, improvement and asphalting of the square, construction of snow figures in winter and festive demonstrations. The most important in the history of the city were photographs that captured the visit of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev in 1962.
The Soviet FED camera was not chosen by the Bakhtins for purchase by chance: it had a high quality of images and was easy to use. The owner liked the camera so much that when more advanced devices of other brands appeared on sale, Valentina Stanislavovna preferred FED to them. In the bathroom of the Bakhtins’ apartment, she set up a photographic laboratory: she developed the film herself and printed photographs. The pictures were made out in photo albums and necessarily signed.
