Masha Ivashintsova was a lost photographer of Leningrad. Throughout her life, from 1942 to 2000, she took pictures, but never showed her work.
At the end of last year, Maria's daughter's husband came across boxes full of undeveloped film and negatives in the attic of their old house. The images published here — some of them for the first time — represent only a small part of the 30 thousand images found — but this is enough to take a fresh look at St. Petersburg and its inhabitants.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgAn archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgSelf-portrait.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgPlayground in Leningrad. In her youth, Ivashintsova followed her grandmother's wish and began studying to be a ballerina, but after her grandmother's death, her parents took Masha from the academy, enrolling her in a technical specialty.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgStreet portrait in St. Petersburg in 1976. After her artistic career was interrupted, Ivashintsova tried herself at various jobs — for example, as a theater critic. And her personal life was experiencing more and more upheavals.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgThe bank of the Neva River in 1979.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgChildren from Vologda — 1979.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgAn archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgMelvar with their only daughter, Asya. In the same year that this photo was taken — 1976, the family split up. Asya moved to her father in Moscow, and Maria stayed in St. Petersburg.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgAsya — 1978.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgThe crowd at the parade on May 1 in St. Petersburg, 1979.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgWhile in Leningrad, Ivashintsova was in an unstable love relationship with the poet Viktor Krivulin (pictured) and photographer Boris Smelov.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgIvashintsova and the popular photographer Boris Smelov.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgPortrait of a "growing Soviet engineer in fashionable Soviet-French clothes". The diaries left by Ivashintsova give out a woman who gave a very modest assessment of her talents compared to the men of her life. Her daughter says that she "sincerely believed that she was fading next to them, and therefore never showed her work to anyone."
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgDespite her daily passion for photography, Ivashintsova suffered from depression, which is why she stopped working in 1981.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgThe parade of Communists in St. Petersburg. In a state where unemployment was criminally punishable, Maria was expected to be imprisoned or imprisoned in a mental hospital.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgIvashintsova's family says that she chose a mental hospital and after 10 years was mentally broken by the cruel system of treatment of patients.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgA monkey on a chain. "Sometimes, looking at this photo, I think I see some tragic prediction of what my mother had to go through," Asya shared.
An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgA fragment of the monument to Stalin in St. Petersburg.An archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgAn archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgAn archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgAn archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgAn archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. PetersburgAn archive of photographs of an unknown genius Masha Ivashintsova was discovered in St. Petersburg