At the exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Lev Borodulin, unknown pictures of the famous sports photographer were shown

The Jewish Museum has shifted its focus from famous works to personal ones

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the famous sports photographer Lev Borodulin. On this occasion, albeit with some delay (his birthday was January 25), an exhibition of his works entitled “Predict the Moment” was opened at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center. It is no coincidence that it is there. Under other circumstances, Lev Abramovich could have gone down in history as Blumstein, but in the late 1940s he took his mother’s surname. Only after that his pictures began to be printed. And most importantly, Borodulin lived most of his life in Israel. And all because of one frame from the Olympic Games in Rome, published on the cover of Ogonyok. The chairman of the Central Committee, Mikhail Suslov, called him “flying f … th”, wrote an angry letter to Pravda, as a result, the photographer had to emigrate. However, this scandalous story was not the key at the exhibition.

A graduate of the Polytechnic Institute (specialty – book designer) became interested in photography at the front. In 1941, after his first year, he went to war, where he was seriously wounded twice and received two medals for valor and courage, and he also acquired a captured Leika there. When he returned, he began to master the apparatus, and soon realized that this was his calling. Therefore, in 1947, Lev Blumstein changed his father’s surname to his mother’s and began to send his photographs to various publications. The first photographs were published by the student newspaper “Stalin’s Printer”, then the young man got a job in the “Sports Life of Russia”, where he soon became a leading photographer. Soon he was called to Ogonyok, which was the country’s main magazine. Borodulin showed himself at his best here and became the leading sports photographer, where there was less political propaganda, which means more freedom of expression. Borodulin was looking for interesting angles, he had his own style, and he also liked to experiment. Pictures of Borodulin were published in many Soviet and foreign publications. By 1960, when the scandal around the “From the Tower” photo broke out, he was at the peak of his fame and managed to travel half the world.

This masterful photo that divided his life into “before” and “after” was taken at the Summer Olympics in Rome. Especially for the sake of the frame, Borodulin climbed onto the upper tower and filmed an athlete who was jumping into the water from a springboard lower. It turned out to be an excellent angle with clear geometry and powerful dynamics. Not surprisingly, he was put on the cover of Ogonyok magazine (No. 38). However, the chairman of the Central Committee, Mikhail Suslov, seeing that magazine, drew attention not to the angle, but to the athlete herself. And he seems to be a little overexcited. He called the picture “flying f … th.” And he even bothered to write a letter to the Pravda newspaper on behalf of an unnamed, but very angry “reader”, where he called on society to express a “strong protest against such eroticism.” The scandal broke out when Borodulin was still in Italy. Upon returning from a business trip, he was fired from Ogonyok. Other publications have since been reluctant to publish pictures of the “unreliable” author. But Borodulin did not immediately surrender, he remained in the USSR until 1972. And then he nevertheless emigrated to Tel Aviv, where he continued to do what he loved. He shot sporting events here too, but he focused more on people.

It is noteworthy that at the anniversary exhibition the most famous, widely disseminated photographs of Borodulin do not occupy the main place. For example, the very turning photo “From the Tower” hangs by the aisle in the far left corner. It can be easily slipped by and not noticed. Many other famous shots hang inconspicuously as well. The viewer has the opportunity to highlight the main ones, guided by personal impressions. And there are plenty to choose from: there are celebrities (like Lev Yashin with a victory cup over his head), and massive parades of gymnasts, and unexpected shots (like an athlete who bends in a jump so that she seems to have no head). Borodulin has a lot of funny shots that betray his character. “Dad had a great sense of humor, he often talked about sports when he saw some kind of injury: “Nothing strengthens a person’s health like sports,” the photographer’s son Alexander notes.

The second hall of the exhibition is filled with color photographs. Lev Borodulin was one of the first photographers in the USSR who began to take color photographs and shoot on slide film. Here you can also find his photos taken with a fisheye lens. Borodulin was the first Soviet photographer to use this lens. Connoisseurs will find many iconic shots here, but the next hall will surprise even specialists. Here are the photographs that Borodulin took after emigration – in Israel. Curly-haired rabbis surrounded by numerous children. Mustachioed sellers in the shops. Before us is a reportage shooting from the streets, where Borodulin appears not only as a master with a sense of humor and a tenacious eye, but also as a lyricist, for whom the daily life of people, their way of life and random sincere emotions are important. If in sports the photographer caught moments of intense passion, then in his Jewish cycle he focused on the fleeting, barely perceptible…

In the final hall you can find the rules that Borodulin formulated for himself. There are five of them. First, try to move away from the group of photographers and be a little away. Secondly, focus not only on the winners, but also on the losers. Third, think before you shoot. And also – to think not only about the moment, but also about the angle. And finally, it is very important to anticipate the moment. This formula, in fact, formed the title of the exhibition.

The project ends with photographs from the collection of Lev Borodulin, which he collected for many years. There are also many familiar and iconic shots here – from Alexander Rodchenko to Yevgeny Khaldei. However, they do not look old and shabby, that is, apparently, they were printed for the exhibition. Copyrights to them belong to the heirs of the photographers. Therefore, it is not entirely clear what exactly Borodulin’s fund owns, which is now led by his son. Maybe we have a personal choice of classic preferences? The photographer’s son Alexander Borodulin found it difficult to comment on the selection and copyright on it, saying that it was a “difficult issue.”