A classic of Russian photography, Vadim Gippenreiter took unique volcanic eruptions' photos, which became known all over the world. Lots of photoart lovers got a vivid picture of what eruptions, volcanoes, and Kamchatka are like when watching albums created by him.

Vadim Gippenreiter was born in Moscow on April 22, 1917. In 1934 he went in for alpine skiing under the leadership of Gustav Deberli (Austria). He became the first alpine skiing Master of Sports in the USSR 1937 and the first slalom champion of the USSR in 1937. He repeatedly became the slalom champion of the USSR in 1938. Further on he won the championship of the Soviet Union in mountain skiing three times more. Moreover, Vadim Gippenreiter was the first to schuss down from Elbrus. He did it in 1939. From 1937 to 1960 he was an alpine skiing coach of two sports societies.

In 1948 Vadim Gippenreiter graduated from the Moscow Surikov Art Institute as a sculptor. After graduation he took to photography and continued mountaineering and skiing. Very famous are his photo albums From Kamchatka. He became one of the few who photographed Eruption of Tolbachik in 1975.

Vadim Gippenreiter won the Gold Medal of the International INTERPRESSPHOTO exhibition in 1966.

The great Russian photographer, the author of nearly 50 albums with unique photos of the most pristine nooks of Russia, Vadim Gippenreiter, aged 99, died on July 16, 2016.

According to his student, the well-known photographer Anton Lange, in regards of his contribution into Russian photography Vadim Gippenreiter can be compared only to the legendary American photographer Ancel Adams.
 

      "It is the death of a true legend. He was a legend in many respects. Certainly, he was a legend of the Soviet photo of the late and middle Soviet era. He photographed all the largest eruptions of the Kamchatka and Kuril volcanoes for 30 years. He made classical shots of the Russian North, the Urals, the Far East, and Central Asia. And those were one-man expeditions".