The Soviets mastered photo manipulation long before the age of Photoshop

The Soviet Union, under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, was known for its extensive use of propaganda to shape public opinion and maintain control over its population. Long before the advent of digital image editing software like Adobe Photoshop, the Soviets had already mastered the art of manipulating photographs to serve their political agenda.

The use of propaganda in the Soviet Union dates back to the early years of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. However, it was during Stalin's rule that propaganda reached its peak. The Soviet propaganda machine was highly centralized and controlled by the Communist Party. It was used to promote the party's ideology, glorify Stalin and the Soviet state, and suppress dissent.

One of the most effective ways the Soviets manipulated photographs was through airbrushing. This technique involved painstakingly removing unwanted elements from photographs using paint or other materials. The Soviets used airbrushing to remove people from photographs if they were deemed to be enemies of the state or if their presence was deemed inconvenient or embarrassing. For example, in one famous photograph, Stalin was airbrushed into a group photo with other Soviet leaders who had died before the image was taken.

Another technique used by the Soviets was montage. This involved combining multiple photographs into one image to create a new meaning or message. Montages were used to create images that conveyed the idea of Soviet power and progress. For example, a photograph of a dam being built was combined with an image of a worker holding a hammer and sickle to create an image of the worker contributing to the construction of the dam and the progress of the Soviet Union.

The Soviets also used photographs to create false narratives and distort reality. For example, they would stage photographs to make it appear as if events had taken place that had not actually occurred. One famous example is a photograph of a harvest festival in Ukraine in 1932. The photograph shows thousands of people gathered to celebrate the harvest, but in reality, there was a severe famine in Ukraine at the time, and many people were starving. The photograph was staged to create the illusion that everything was normal and that there was no food crisis.

The use of propaganda through manipulated photographs was an effective tool in maintaining control over the Soviet population and shaping public opinion. It allowed the Soviets to create a narrative that suited their political agenda and to suppress dissent by presenting a false reality. The techniques used by the Soviets, such as airbrushing and montage, were later adopted by other totalitarian regimes and continue to be used in propaganda today.

George Orwell's quote from his novel "1984," "Who controls the past, controls the future; who controls the present controls the past," is particularly relevant to the use of propaganda in the Soviet Union. By controlling the past through manipulated photographs and other forms of propaganda, the Soviets were able to shape public opinion and control the narrative, which in turn allowed them to control the future.