The #Soviet vision of seamless transformation – e.g., converting peatlands into energy sources and arable land, and people into compliant laborers – was largely realized but left behind traces of persistent violence, as Jeanna Kolesova argues: https://berlinergazette.de/witnesses-or-resources-on-peat-laboring-bodies-and-imperial-practice/ #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #labor #landgrabbing #ecology #imperialism #Russia #RussiaUkraineWar

#MilitaryParade #TrumpParade

A Military Parade is another #Russian #Putin #Soviet #KGB #FSB idea.

A MOCKERY of a military parade is STILL a Russian idea.

#RussianIdea #SurkovMindFuck /\ #FWakeTrumpParade /\

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Army_250th_Anniversary_Parade

imagine sleeping as a #soviet and waking up as a #russian

Gearing up for the Crappy Commie Camera Party (Part IV): The Pentacon Electra 2, An Automatic Camera For SL Film

Anyone who has read this blog will know that I’ve really tumbled down the Rapid film system rabbit hole. It all started late in 2024, when I picked up a couple of Agfa’s Iso-Rapid IF cameras and the Welta Penti II (the ‘Golden Wonder’) for the Frugal Film Project. Since then, I’ve added several more Rapid film cameras to my collection, from a 1940s Agfa Karat — the original version of Agfa’s Rapid system — to 1960s Rapid cameras like the Voigtländer Vitoret Rapid D.

Although the Rapid film system was developed by the West German film company Agfa, in response to the launch of Kodak’s instamatic film system, East German camera companies soon developed their own version of Rapid film, known as the SL, or Schnell Lade (‘Speed Loading’) system. Eastern Bloc SL cameras used exactly the same format canisters as the Agfa Rapid system, the films are interchangeable, except that the SL canisters were made of plastic, not metal, like in the West.

I already have two SL format cameras, my beloved Smena SL, with its classic Triplet T-43 4/40 lens, and the ‘Golden Wonder’, which I think of as a Rapid camera but it was actually made in East Germany, and I had this ‘need’ for a couple more. I started my search with the SL System page on Wikipedia, which quite handily gives a list of SL format cameras at the bottom. I mentally crossed off the Smena SL and the Penti II, and started searching down the list on eBay. 

In the end, I settled on a Pentacon Electra 2, an aperture priority automatic camera from the late 1960s, from a German seller. In the eBay post it was described as, ‘fully functional condition with age-appropriate signs of wear’, but what really convinced me to go with this model was a YouTube video about the camera which featured a close-up of the lens and its wonderful 60s style pictograms for the focusing distance markers.

The Pentacon Electra 2 is a camera that screams the 60s, from the amazing pictograms mentioned above to its Eastern Bloc brick-like shape — almost utilitarian. What is unusual about this camera is that it’s an automatic camera. Well, aperture priority — you set the exposure, sunny, hazy, or cloudy — and the camera sets the shutter speed. It’s powered by two AA batteries, and the CdS sensor is situated behind a little round window above the lens.

Being an SL format camera, there’s no rewind knob, and the top of the camera is plain apart from a hot shoe and a little window for the film counter. The camera actually came with a flash, but that flash is anything but portable. It’s huge, for one thing, and instead of taking batteries the flash is powered by a mains lead! On the bottom of the camera is a thread for a tripod and a cover for the battery compartment. Handily, the cover has a guide to the aperture settings and conditions. 

On the front, to the right of the lens, is a little toggle switch that you can set the ISO of the film. There are two options, ISO 50 or 100. To the left of the lens is another toggle switch to set how the camera functions. This can be set to three options: Automatic (actually aperture priority), flash sync (1/125s), or flash sync for bulbs (1/30s). Below this toggle switch is the shutter lever. 

Focus distance is presented in metres and feet around the lens. There are also those wonderful pictograms for distances for portraits, groups and landscapes. The aperture can be set to f2.8, f4.8, f8, and f13.5 with a lever on the bottom of the lens. You can see these as little icons through a window on the top of the lens for ‘tripod’ (fully open), cloudy, hazy and sunny conditions. If you turn the lens upside-down the lens has the f-numbers printed out. They are also on the battery cover.

On the back of the Electra is a wind-on knob with a large arrow showing the direction of travel of the film. This is important since the direction is right to left, instead of the customary left to right. When the film is wound on, the shutter is cocked with a satisfying ‘click’ 

https://flic.kr/p/2raDP66

I was keen to try out the Pentacon Electra 2, and loaded it with a roll of Harman Phoenix film that I have laying around (nowadays I always have some Phoenix, or Harman Red, decanted into Rapid canisters for the Frugal Film Project). Besides, it’s the Crappy Commie Camera Party, and I want to use the Pentacon for this, too. In my rush to get out, I was half way through the roll before I remembered that the box speed of Phoenix is actually ISO 100, so the film was underexposed by 1 stop. However, I came across a YouTube video where someone exposed Phoenix at ISO 100, so I’m hoping that I might have got away with it.

https://flic.kr/p/2raDP7D

The results came out great! I needn’t have worried about rating the film at ISO 100 instead of the box speed of ISO 200. There were some light leaks, but I’m increasingly convinced that these are because of the lab loading these into the developing machine rather than leaks within the camera or SL canister. Instead of transferring the film to a 35mm cassette, this film was loaded straight from the SL canister, and there were still light leaks. On the frames thatdid not show light leaks, the exposure was spot on, and I reckon these are the best results I have had from Harman Phoenix. 

https://flic.kr/p/2raDP97

I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.

If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow the ‘Snapshot’ WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline.

#Agfa #AgfaRapid #CrappyCommieCameraParty #Experimental #Lomo #Pentacon #Rapid #RapidFilm #Retro #Shittycamerachallenge #SL #Soviet #SovietCamera #Vintage

Soviet ski troops advance through sparse woodland near Leningrad 1944. These troops developed excellent hit and run tactics at lightening speeds. #ww2 #worldwar2 #ski #skis #troops #soviet #snow #winter #leningrad

"If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to work as a #Jewish #districtattorney in #Soviet #Ukraine during the post-#Stalinist era, now’s your chance to find out. Marat Grinberg, a scholar of #Russian and #Jewish #literature, #culture and #film at Reed College, has expertly translated the #memoirs of his grandfather, Mikhail Goldis (1926-2020), who worked as a district attorney and #detective in Ukraine for three decades and wrote his memoirs in the U.S. in the early 1990s.

The book is comprised of chapters devoted to different cases that Goldis is expected either to solve or preside over. In most instances his voice is technical; he plays the part of an observer rather than a critic. It’s clinical in some instances rather than passionate, but every scene to which he bears witness and every conversation in which he engages is worthy of attention."

https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/books/382054/a-kind-of-jew-they-didnt-know-existed/

🇲🇩 22/04/2025 Chișinău (Moldavie)
On visite la Capitale Chisinau a pied. Non loin de notre hôtel, on voit la statue du militaire soviétique Grigori Kotovski devant l'imposant Hôtel Cosmos.

We are exploring the capital city of Chisinau on foot. Not far from our hotel, we see the statue of Soviet soldier Grigory Kotovsky in front of the imposing Cosmos Hotel.

#chisinau #moldavie #hotel #sovietique #soviet #urss

Classic #Soviet joke:

"They arrested Yuri for calling the President an idiot."

"Did they charge him with insulting an official?"

"Nyet. They charged him with revealing classified information."

#USPol #Poltics #Media #Journalism

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/business/media/abc-news-terry-moran-suspended.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Nk8.ZfWl.m4RYIRPKbadm&smid=url-share

🇲🇩 22/04/2025 Chișinău (Moldavie)
En plein cœur de Chișinău, l'ancien hôtel "Național", aujourd'hui abandonné, aux couleurs du drapeau moldave : bleu, jaune, rouge.

In the heart of Chișinău, the former "Național" hotel, now abandoned, in the colors of the Moldovan flag: blue, yellow, red.

Nel cuore di Chișinău, l'ex hotel "Național", ora abbandonato, riporta i colori della bandiera moldava: blu, giallo, rosso.

#soviet #moldavie #chisineau #national #hotel #urss #communism

72 years later, image still resonates. 'In America - At This Restaurant Only One Person Is Served' (Krokodil # 4, 1953) by Yuliy Ganf. Solider being well fed labeled “war” & neglected tables labeled 'Education', 'Health Care', 'Libraries' & 'Art'. #USpol #soviet #propaganda #PoliticalCartoon

72 years later, this image still seems to resonate.

'In America - At This Restaurant Only One Person Is Served' (Krokodil # 4, 1953) by Yuliy Ganf. The solider at the table being well fed is labeled “war” and the neglected tables are labeled 'Education', 'Health Care', 'Libraries' and 'Art'.

#USpol #soviet #propaganda #PoliticalCartoon

Today in Labor History June 7, 1896: Anarchists supposedly set off a bomb during a Corpus Christi parade in Barcelona, Spain. As a result, a dozen people died and thirty were wounded. No one knows who actually set off the bomb, but the government blamed anarchists, who had set off numerous bombs over the previous four years. Consequently, the government went on a witch-hunt, arresting and torturing dozens of anarchists in the infamous Montjuich Prison. However, many leading anarchists denied the accusations and said they would never have set off a deadly bomb in a working-class community like this. They reserved their attacks for members of the ruling class. Nevertheless, the government tried and executed five anarchists, all of whom proclaimed their innocence. They sentenced 67 others to life in prison. Worldwide protests erupted in response. Montjuich Prison was graphically depicted in the opening scene Victor Serge’s epic novel, Birth of Our Power, which he wrote while imprisoned in the Soviet Union for his opposition to Stalin.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #spain #barcelona #bombing #prison #torture #VictorSerge #soviet #russia #stalin #writer #author #books #fiction #novel @bookstadon

P-14 "TALL KING" radar at the Tonopah Test Range. Soviet early warning radar goes back to 1955. Link is to a declassified TOP SECRET CIA manual about it. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78T04759A002100010003-1.pdf
#radar #TALLKING #Soviet #EWR #tonopah #nevada #TTR #CIA #declassified #topsecret #Russia

Anarchy Song, by Nestor Makhno, also known as "Mother Anarchy Loves Her Sons,” Rock version:
https://youtu.be/zorRzhEoNG0

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #ukraine #nestormakhno #Revolution #soviet #communist #trotsky #insurrection #BlackArmy #peasant #commune

Today in Labor History June 4, 1932: Chilean politicians and the military carried out a coup d'etat, installing Marmaduke Grove, who declared Chile a "socialist republic." However, workers were given no means to participate. The Communist Party and many unions opposed the new government because it was run by the military and not by the workers. However, the “socialist” government did temporarily halt evictions and ordered the “Caja de Crédito Popular” to return tools and clothes that workers had pawned there. They also pardoned everyone who participated in the Sailors' mutiny of 1931, when enlisted men rebelled against their officers and the state. Furthermore, they provided free meals to the unemployed. Twelve days later, the military ended the "workers republic." That same year, Farabundo Marti led a short-lived, but successful communist revolution of indigenous peasants in El Salvador. It was violently suppressed by General Martinez a few months later in La Matanza, a genocide of up to 40,000 mostly indigenous people. Martinez then became the first head of state to officially recognize Hitler as leader of Germany.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #socialism #communist #Revolution #uprising #massacre #indigenous #genocide #hitler #nazis #fascism #chile #ElSalvador #FarabundoMarti #mutiny #soviet

Today in Labor History June 4, 1919: Trotsky banned the 4th Ukrainian Congress of Free Soviets with his Order #1824. He also sent troops to destroy the Rosa Luxemburg Commune near Provkovski, and declared the Ukrainian anarchist insurgent Nestor Makhno an outlaw. The Free Territory within Ukraine, also known as Makhnovia (after Nestor Makhno) lasted from 1918 to 1921. It was a stateless, anarchist society and it was defended by Makhno’s Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army (AKA the Black Army). Roughly 7 million people lived in the area. The peasants who lived there refused to pay rent to the landowners and seized the estates and livestock of the church, state and private landowners, setting up local committees to manage them and share them among the various villages and communes of the Free State.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #ukraine #nestormakhno #Revolution #soviet #communist #trotsky #insurrection #BlackArmy #peasant #commune

An old Soviet steam locomotive

📷 Pentax espio 928
🎞 Kodak Ultramax 400

#myfotokempi

#photography #photo #fotografie #filmphotography #beliveinfilm #35mm #analogphotography #darktable #gimp #locomotive #soviet