The article focuses on a trend in the Soviet avant­garde art,
that emerged in the late 1920s and was based on the use
of large­scale forms (such as a photo series, photo mural,
“bio­interview”, etc). This turn got the most complete
theoretical justification in Sergei Tretyakov, who proposed
the concept of “documentary epic”, suggesting that it grew
out of utilitarian genres. According to Andrey Fomenko,
the documentary epic with its archaic and regressive
connotations was a natural result of the evolution of
the avant­garde movement and its program of “lifebuilding”, in particular.