Soviet Life

by Joe Schofield

Title

Soviet Life

Artist

Joe Schofield

Medium

Photograph

Description

The cover of SOVIET LIFE from April 1988. The cover features a conceptual dream of a joint Soviet-American mission to Mars. A 10x14 glossy production, Soviet Life depicted the arts, science, and culture of a world held in deep suspicion by the West.

In 1956, the American and Soviet governments agreed to exchange magazines and "Amerika" was reborn and published in return for distribution of "The USSR" in the United States.
The simultaneous appearance of these magazines was the result of an intergovernmental agreement, one among several cross-cultural agreements designed to sow trust amidst the rancour of international politics. Still, there was never any question in anyone's mind that each magazine was intended as a propaganda tool for the government issuing and publishing it.
A few years later, The USSR changed its name to "Soviet Life". While never a blatant Soviet propaganda tool, Soviet Life did hew to the government line. Yet it sought to present an informed view of Russian culture, history, scientific achievements and the various peoples inhabiting the Soviet Union.
Formal offices of the Soviet Life magazine were located in Washington, D.C.
Under the terms of the inter-governmental agreement, the subscription levels of both magazines were restricted for many years to around 30,000.
In the late 1980s, with political and economic reform in the Soviet Union, there was a surge of interest in Soviet Life - readership rose to over 50,000.
In December 1991, the Soviet Union signed itself out of existence and, subsequently, the Russian government could not find the money to finance the production of Soviet Life. The last issue of Soviet Life was published in December 1991.

For anyone having read this far (and I know I may be talking to one or perhaps two), I was a young father recently out of college, completed with my military service in the USAF, and home from teaching in Australia. My wife and I were young and naive, and rather misguided with Karl Marx's notion of "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.", and "The rich will do anything for the poor but get off their backs." There were visions of visiting, by way of the Siberian Express from Vladivostok. Life got in the way, careers, and an awakening to the reality of reality. No regrets. Joe.

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July 27th, 2020

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