The Last Leader of the Soviet Union
Remembering Mikhail Gorbachev, photographed by some of the greats throughout his lifetime.
Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev died August 30, 2022 at the age 91. Yousuf Karsh made this portrait on May 30, 1990, a few months before Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Legendary fashion photographer Herb Ritts photographed Gorbachev in Moscow, 1992.
Annie Leibovitz photographed Gorbachev multiple times. For this Louis Vuitton ad in 2007 (in a limo, as it passes the Berlin Wall)
And again in 2012 for Vanity Fair, alongside fellow Nobel Peace Prize recipient the Dalai Lama.
There are tons of great news photos of Gorbachev. I particularly love this one taken in 1988 by Pete Souza (published on his Instagram account earlier this year. And no, that’s not Putin with the camera behind the little boy.
I dug around in the archives of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and found the contact sheet from that moment captured by Souza. Interesting how the photos of Gorbachev were not selected at the time.
I also like this one by Dirck Halstead for TIME from Gorbachev and Reagan's first summit meeting in 1985 - nicely restrained.
Reuters photographer Gaby Sommer captured the "socialist fraternal kiss" between Gorbachev and East German Leader Erich Honecker on April 21, 1986. Gaby, a trailblazer for women photographers in the 80's, died in 2018.
Associated Press photographer Liu Heung Shing was punched by a KGB officer after making this historic photo of Gorbachev resigning on Dec 25, 1991. Liu and other AP photographers won the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography on the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Peter Turnley photographed Gorbachev for Newsweek many times. This is a fascinating photo of him at his desk in the Kremlin in 1991. Dig the phones.
Another compelling photo of Gorbachev in his office was made by Dutch photographer Leo Erken. This was after the collapse, in 1993, and appeared in The New Yorker.
Joe McNally has a great backstory to this photo of Gorbachev he shot in the late 90's. "I wanted him with this lonely woods as a backdrop, because he was an isolated figure in Russian history."
David Hume Kennerly shared this historic photo on his Instagram of Reagan and Gorbachev's first meeting, known as the "Fireside Summit," in 1985. Kennerly, on assignment for TIME, was the only non-White House/Kremlin photographer in the room.
White House Photographer Terry Arthur captured the meeting as well. Here's his contact sheet from the Reagan Library archives. The select (marked "OK") has a markedly different mood than Kennerly's.
This is a wonderful, unexpected portrait of Gorbachev in 2019 by Yuriy Chichkov for Der Spiegel.
Martin Schoeller also photographed Gorbachev in 2012 for the cover of Russian Esquire.
And, finally, again on April 15, 2020. This may be the last formal portrait of Gorbachev.
