1974 Photo Contest, Photo Stories, 2nd prize
Photographer

Max Alpert

RIA Novosti

01 January, 1973

Dr. Nikolai Amosov certifies the death of a patient after two hour-long surgery. Amosov (1913-2002) was a Soviet Russian and Ukrainian doctor, heart surgeon, inventor and best-selling author. Max Alpert later recalled that for his photo essay of Amosov, he was primarily interested in the psychology of a man who can save another man's life. Alpert took a long time to prepare, reading Amosov's books and articles, and spending time with him before the shoot, which took place during two operations. Unexpectedly, the first patient died during the operation. Alpert, who tried to be invisible and as unobtrusive as possible, used fifteen rolls of 35 mm film for the whole story, from which RIA Novosti selected 31. Six were submitted to the contest.

About the photographer

Max Alpert

The Soviet photojournalist Max Alpert (1899-1980) started his career at the Rabochaya Gazeta. In the 1930s, he worked as a photo editor for the newspaper Pravda and other publica...

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