Masha Ivashintsova
Masha Ivashintsova (March 23, 1942 − July 13, 2000) was a Russian photographer from Saint-Petersburg (then Leningrad, USSR) who was heavily engaged in the Leningrad poetic and photography underground movement of the 1960−80s. Masha photographed prolifically throughout most of her life, but she hoarded her photo-films in the attic and rarely developed them. Only when her daughter Asya found some 30,000 negatives in their attic in 2017 did Masha's works become public.
Also recorded as Masa Ivasincova
Masha Ivashintsova
Маша Ивашинцова. Автопортрет · mashaivashintsova.com · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Masha Ivashintsova
- Born
- 23 March 1942
- Birthplace
- Sverdlovsk, USSR
- Died
- 13 July 2000
- Place of death
- Saint-Petersburg, Russia
- Known for
- Photographer and painter
- Nationality
- Soviet Union · Russia
- Occupation
- photographer
- Fields
- street photography
- Languages
- Russian
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Documentary summary
Masha Ivashintsova (March 23, 1942 − July 13, 2000) was a Russian photographer from Saint-Petersburg (then Leningrad, USSR) who was heavily engaged in the Leningrad poetic and photography underground movement of the 1960−80s. Masha photographed prolifically throughout most of her life, but she hoarded her photo-films in the attic and rarely developed them. Only when her daughter Asya found some 30,000 negatives in their attic in 2017 did Masha's works become public.
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wikidata · Q50414319 · wikipedia · Masha Ivashintsova
In this article
Biography
Biography
In this regard, Masha Ivashintsova's work and story have been compared to those of Vivian Maier. Ivashintsova died in 2000 at the age of 58.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Masha Ivashintsova • Born — 23 March 1942 • Birthplace — Sverdlovsk, USSR • Died — 13 July 2000 • Place of death — Saint-Petersburg, Russia • Known for — Photographer and painter • Website — mashaivashintsova.com
Personal life
Personal life
Masha was born into an aristocratic family whose assets were seized following the Bolshevik Revolution. In Leningrad, Ivashintsova joined the city's literary and artistic underground. She worked odd jobs as a theater critic, a librarian, a cloakroom attendant, an elevator mechanic, and a security guard, amongst others. Occasionally, she would visit Asya in Moscow. Masha was heavily engaged in the Leningrad poetic and photography of the 1960−80s. She was in relationships with photographer Boris Smelov, poet Viktor Krivulin and linguist Melvar Melkumyan, the latter whom she married and had a daughter, Asya Melkumyan.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
• Masha Ivashintsova, Street Photographer (2018), International Center of Photography, New York City, USA • Brought to Light (2019), Vintage Photo Festival, Bydgoszcz, Poland, curated by Katarzyna Gębarowska and Masha Galleries. • Chiaroscuro (2019-2020), Juhan Kuus Documentary Photo Centre, Tallinn, Estonia
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1942
Masha Ivashintsova was born on 23 March 1942.
2000
Masha Ivashintsova died at Saint Petersburg.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Yekaterinburg.
Birth place
Saint Petersburg.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Masha Ivashintsova”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q50414319: Masha Ivashintsova
General reference · Wikidata
Links and sources
Links and sources
• Masha Ivashintsova official web site • Interview: Woman Discovers Over 30,000 Secret Photos Left Behind by Her Mother My Modern Met
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Leningrad's Lost Photographer. RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.
- 2.'Russian Vivian Maier' Discovered After 30,000 Photos Found in Attic. PetaPixel. 2018-03-12.
- 3.Mother Jones. The Secret Stash of Soviet Street Photographer Masha Ivashintsova. July–August 2018.
- 4.Official website Masha Ivashintsova Photography. mashaivashintsova.com.
- 5.International Center of Photography. Vivian Maier: Who Took Nanny's Pictures (2013).
- 6.Masha Ivashintsova "Brought to Light".
- 7.MAŠA IVAŠINTSOVA — CHIAROSCURO.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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