Soviet Technological Utopianism and Amateur Photography in Ukraine

A Social History of Technology Perspective

Abstract

This article aims to explore Soviet technological utopianism through the lens of amateur photography in the Ukrainian SSR, with particular attention to the social history of technology. The article, too, strives to demonstrate how technical limitations and socio-political conditions shaped Soviet photographic culture, and how amateur practices often transcended official ideological frameworks.

Methods. The study employs interdisciplinary approaches of the social history of technology, Actor-Network Theory, and the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT). It relies on archival sources, materials from photo laboratories, vernacular visual archives, and Soviet-era publications. Methods of visual anthropology are also applied to interpret everyday photographic practices.

Results. The analysis shows that Soviet authorities sought to use amateur photography as a tool of propaganda and socialist construction. In practice, however, photo laboratories and clubs failed to fulfill political tasks, while mass amateur photography evolved into a private practice of memory preservation, status display, and family identity building. The production of cameras in the USSR, particularly the “Kyiv” models, illustrates the tensions between imported technologies and local social needs.

Conclusions. Amateur photography in the USSR did not serve as an instrument of the Soviet utopian project but rather reflected the conservative values of society and the quest for private space. It reveals the complex interplay of technology, politics, and everyday life, offering deeper insights into the dynamics of Soviet visual culture. The study emphasises the significance of private visual archives as a source for reconstructing the social history of Ukraine.