Design historian Olga Druzhinina and co-founder of the local design tradition Vladimir Runge will trace how a unique photo equipment style emerged and developed in the Soviet Union.
The book is dedicated to the notable Soviet designer Vladimir Fyodorovich Runge whose life and practice are associated with the Krasnogorsk Plant of S.A. Zverev. With his career at the factory spanning almost half a century, Runge created and for many years headed its design department, laying the foundation for design concepts of USSR’s optical-mechanical and optical-electronic industries. Runge and his crew carried out projects that have become symbols of Soviet design both in this country and abroad, including the famous “Zenit” and “Horizont” photo cameras, the “Photosnaiper” photographic gun, and film cameras for shooting in outer space among many other devices.
In 1987, Runge contributed to the establishment of the Union of Soviet Designers—the country’s first professional organization bringing together design artists. Candidate of Art History, professor, full member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, recipient of the State Prize of the Russian Federation, author of multiple articles, books and textbooks on the history of design, Vladimir Runge is rightfully considered a founding figure in the history of Soviet design.