Stenberg Brothers (Vladimir, 1899-1982; Georgi, 1900-1933)

Dziga Vertov's avant-garde film The Man with the Movie Camera (1929) is famed for its revolutionary use of Constructivist montage on the cinematic screen. Through superimposition, slow and fast motion, and split screen techniques, Vertov portrays both the cityscape and the human body with dynamism, merging the organic and the mechanic to create a dramatic image of the technologically advancing world. In their poster, produced to accompany Vertov's film, Vladimir and Georgii Stenberg manipulate the flat picture plane to reflect the film's kinetic quality. Juxtaposing the towering architecture of the urban topos with fragmented imagery of the body, bold typography and expressive colour, the Stenberg brothers embed lithography with the temporal experience of film and capture the curious blend of anxiety and optimism that dominated post-revolution Soviet Russia.