Vladimir Musaelyan (Moscow, 1939) started his career as an amateur photographer, whilehe worked as a foreman at an aircraft building plant. The Russian press agency ITAR-TASS discovered his talent when he sent some of his photos to the magazine Sovetskoye Foto. In 1960, Musaelyan joined ITAR-TASS, where he still worked in 2012. For ITAR-TASS, he travelled all around the former Soviet Union. From 1969 to 1982, Musaelyan was also the personal photographer of Leonid Brezhnev, who was General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between 1964 and 1982. After Brezhnev's death, Musaelyan also worked for the Russian Communist leaders Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko.
