ALEXANDER ABAZA
1934-2011
Alexander Abaza was one of the most significant Soviet photographers of 1960-1970’s. Working as a photojournalist for several newspapers, he was photographinf mostly construction sites and sport competitions.
Born in 1934
1942 – after his mother’s death he was evacuated with an orphanage from the Nazi-besieged Leningrad to the village of Gagino, Sergach district, Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) region
1948 – settled in Riga with his aunt who brought him up
1953 – took up photography
1954 – graduated from the Riga Polytechnic School
1954-1958 – served in the Soviet Navy
1958-1969 – worked as design engineer at Riga Electric Machine Works (REZ)
Since 1964 – member of the public photo studio Riga. Began to work as photographer for the republican newspapers Sovetskaya Latvia (Soviet Latvia) and Sovetskaya Molodezh (Soviet Youth)
1969 – moved to Moscow and began work for the newspaper Sovetskaya Kultura
1971-1996 – photographer of the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda
Participated in and won awards at many national and international photo contests. Grand Prix winner of the Silver Camera-2001 contest help by the Moscow House of Photography.
His works were exhibited in numerous group shows in Russia and in Europe. In 2005 he had a big survey show in Moscow House of photography. His last personal show was in Glaz gallery, Moscow, in January 2011.