Photographer Anatoly Kovtun depicted Vasily Shukshin with his daughters and wife Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina during their vacation in the town of Bronnitsy in the Moscow region.
Kovtun and Shukshin met in 1974, when the photographer worked for TASS and was tasked with a photo-essay about the director. The journalist later recalled, ‘… I … was worried while preparing for the assignment at hand and thought of the photo-shooting plan: “Shukshin at home with his family”, “Shukshin and his favourite pastime”, “Shukshin among friends”. I particularly wanted to depict him as an ordinary pedestrian somewhere in the city streets. Shukshin suddenly stopped me and told me that he wouldn’t do anything ‘special for the shoot’, that I needed to shoot him ‘as is’, and that he had no time to stroll across the streets of Moscow’.
Instead, Shukshin invited Kovtun to go with him on a weekend out of town to Bronnitsy. His daughters Masha and Olya attended a specialised kindergarten there. The photographer recalled this day as follows: “Bronnitsy greeted us with warm and mild May weather. It was a happy day for the Shukshin family. Vasily Makarovich”s face was bright when he talked to his daughters. Masha, who later became an actress, is just like her mother, and they look very much alike. And Olya was her father”s favourite. Indeed, Shukshin treated both daughters with equal love. However, he communicated with Olya in a more cordial and anxious manner, gently hugged her and took her in his arms. It seemed to me that she was someone he cherished, and this can be seen in the photographs”.
The Shukshin family spent their entire day in Bronnitsy. The parents walked with their daughters in a small forest, they dined outdoors, played, and inflated balloons. All this time Kovtun was wandering around with his camera so as not to disturb them.
According to the memoirs, Shukshin was a caring father who loved his children more than his own life. This could be confirmed by his letters to daughters. For instance, during the production of By the Lake in 1969, Shukshin wrote a letter to his one-year-old daughter, which reads: “My dear baby girl Olya-la! I now live in the ancient land of our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, transformed by a great creative power. It is very beautiful here, there are towers everywhere. Life is in full swing. My heart feels just as the song says: “Both anxious and joyful”. But more on the joyful side, of course. You too have fun, my baby girl. And let your mother be happy, and Masha — we will all be happy’.
Kovtun and Shukshin met in 1974, when the photographer worked for TASS and was tasked with a photo-essay about the director. The journalist later recalled, ‘… I … was worried while preparing for the assignment at hand and thought of the photo-shooting plan: “Shukshin at home with his family”, “Shukshin and his favourite pastime”, “Shukshin among friends”. I particularly wanted to depict him as an ordinary pedestrian somewhere in the city streets. Shukshin suddenly stopped me and told me that he wouldn’t do anything ‘special for the shoot’, that I needed to shoot him ‘as is’, and that he had no time to stroll across the streets of Moscow’.
Instead, Shukshin invited Kovtun to go with him on a weekend out of town to Bronnitsy. His daughters Masha and Olya attended a specialised kindergarten there. The photographer recalled this day as follows: “Bronnitsy greeted us with warm and mild May weather. It was a happy day for the Shukshin family. Vasily Makarovich”s face was bright when he talked to his daughters. Masha, who later became an actress, is just like her mother, and they look very much alike. And Olya was her father”s favourite. Indeed, Shukshin treated both daughters with equal love. However, he communicated with Olya in a more cordial and anxious manner, gently hugged her and took her in his arms. It seemed to me that she was someone he cherished, and this can be seen in the photographs”.
The Shukshin family spent their entire day in Bronnitsy. The parents walked with their daughters in a small forest, they dined outdoors, played, and inflated balloons. All this time Kovtun was wandering around with his camera so as not to disturb them.
According to the memoirs, Shukshin was a caring father who loved his children more than his own life. This could be confirmed by his letters to daughters. For instance, during the production of By the Lake in 1969, Shukshin wrote a letter to his one-year-old daughter, which reads: “My dear baby girl Olya-la! I now live in the ancient land of our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, transformed by a great creative power. It is very beautiful here, there are towers everywhere. Life is in full swing. My heart feels just as the song says: “Both anxious and joyful”. But more on the joyful side, of course. You too have fun, my baby girl. And let your mother be happy, and Masha — we will all be happy’.
