Victory of Life over Death. Collection of Nikolay Khorikov, a Photojournalist of the Civil War and Famine in the Volga Region

Abstract

The present article examines the works of the Samara photographer Nikolay Khorikov, who made a significant contribution into preserving the history of such a large-scale disaster as the famine that befell the Samara province during the Civil War. The main emphasis is made not on building a policy of memory around the inhuman suffering endured by the people, but on the experience of overcoming this greatest humanitarian catastrophe. The author presents the main milestones in the life of N.S. Khorikov, analyzes visual sources — a series of photos taken by the photographer in the 1930s for publication in the central media.