the so-called Agitkost' album is covered with two black papier-mache lacquered plaques on the front and on the back; the front cover is intricately decorated with carved walrus bone, the back cover is raised on four round feet. The bone carvings feature: the title on the top reading Belomoro-Baltiyskiy vodnyi put' [White Sea Baltic Waterway]; a rectangular plaque with a portrait of Joseph Stalin in an oval frame on the upper left; a plaque depicting a worker erecting grand flags and holding a pick, with water running through a floodgate behind him on the lower left; two plaques seamed in the center featuring a map of the waterway painted in blue and red; a plaque depicting a standard with Stalin's quote: [White Sea Baltic Waterway is the crucial stage in building the new Soviet Person - a powerful creator of his New life, of a new Socialist face of the Earth!] on the upper right; elaborately carved plaque depicting construction in progress, two seagulls soaring in the sky, and a frontier guard with his hound on the lower right. The album includes 158 vintage gelatin silver prints.

The photographs illustrate the construction of the waterway, as well as the scenes from the life of the participating people. Some of the individuals were physically cut out from the photographs due to Stalin's repressive regime. Size: 45 x 33 cm (17 1/2 x 13 in.). This album is accompanied by two books:

1) A. S. Insarov, Baltiysko-Belomorskiy vodnyi put', (Moscow: OGIZ - GOSTRANSIZDAT, 1934)

2) M. Gorkiy, L. Averbakh, S. Firin, Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy kanal imeni Stalina, (Moscow: OGIZ - "ISTORIYA FABRIK I ZAVODOV", 1934) 

LOT NOTES:
Several images from this album correspond to the ones in the accompanying book,Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy kanal imeni Stalina. Alexander Rodchenko was amongst the photographers who provided materials for this book (his name is listed on the last page). Some of the illustrations featured in the book are well-known photographs by Rodchenko from his 1931 trip to the waterway construction site. He had gone there three times, making thousands of shots during his trips. Significant amount of photo prints included in the present lot corresponds to Rodchenko’s signature style of geometrical photography shot with a diagonal point of view.

The White Sea-Baltic Canal opened on 2 August 1933. It connects the White Sea with Lake Onega, which is further connected to the Baltic Sea. Until 1961, its original name wasBelomorsko–Baltiyskiy Kanal imeni Stalina [the Stalin White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal]. The canal runs partially along several canalised rivers and Lake Vygozero. The total length of the route is 227 kilometres (141 mi), of which 48 kilometres (30 mi) are man-made. The Soviet Union presented the canal as an example of the success of the First Five-Year Plan. Its construction was completed four months ahead of schedule. The entire canal was constructed in twenty months, between 1931 and 1933, almost entirely by manual labour. The canal was the first major project constructed in the Soviet Union using forced labour. The workforce for the Canal of an estimated 100,000 convicts was supplied by the Belbaltlag camp directorate of the OGPU GULAG. Prison labour camp projects were not usually publicised, but the work on the Belomor canal was an exception, as the convicts were thought to not only construct the canal but reforge themselves in the process (Soviet concept of perekovka). The working conditions were brutal, with the prisoners given only primitive hand tools to carry out the massive construction project. The mortality was about 8.7%. Still more became sick and disabled. The workforce was organised into brigades of 25-30 people, which, in turn, constituted phalanges of 250-300. There were norms for labour: e.g. for digging by hand, the norm was 2.5 cubic metres of stone per day per brigade. These teams were pitted to compete against each other in surpassing the norms, and promises were made of shortened sentences, food and cash bonuses for those who would - however, the norms were impossible to fulfill. After the construction, 12,000 prisoners were freed as a reward for their efforts. About the same amount of workers died during the building process, according to the official records, while historians estimate around 25,000 deaths. The canal was commemorated by the Soviet Belomorkanal cigarette brand. A memory of the canal is also preserved in the Russian language, in the words zek, z/k for "inmate". Originally the abbreviation stood for zaklyuchyonny kanaloarmeyets, literally "incarcerated canal-army-man". The deriviation of the term is attributed to Lazar Kogan in 1932.

EXPERTISE
Accompanied by a certificate of expertise from A. V. Maksimova, Provisional Director, ROSFOTO, Saint Petersburg, 2014.

To see the full contents of the album click here