#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Arkady Sorokin was an artist by his profession; he studied in Moscow at the famous VHUTEMAS. He headed the illustrative and artistic department of the Izvestia newspaper editorial board, he illustrated essays by Lev Kassil, Alexey Garry, Mikhail Koltsov and made friends with them. He made photo reports from the construction of Magnitogorsk, where he first met Avraamy Zavenyagin.
In October 1937, Sorokin was arrested and convicted under the 58th political article. In Norilsk, he was lucky to work in his specialty: he photographed the combine’s facilities under construction and in operation, took pictures in Dudinka, on cape Vhodnoy, in the Avam tundra, over which the combine patronized.
In 1941, the Norilsk combine head Panyukov, signed an order to organize a photo laboratory at the geological department for “collecting photo-documentary material on the history of Norilsk, recording construction processes, stages of exploration and exploitation of minerals”. The organization was entrusted to Arkady Sorokin, for which he was given one of the first Soviet FED cameras and a photo enlarger. Later, this photo laboratory became the combine’s photo information bureau.
Arkady Sorokin was in demand in Norilsk as an artist. He worked for a newspaper: for the large circulation Metal to the Front he depicted Sotnikov’s factory in a drawing. Moreover, the Norillag prisoner painted a portrait of Stalin and a picturesque panel for the newly opened House of Engineering and Technical Workers, which decorated the central foyer.
In the History Spot photo project’s previous publication, we told that in the 1950s, Norilsk held its own fashion shows.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Nornickel Polar Branch archive
