Alexander Khlebnikov (1897-1979) is acknowledged as the pioneer of Russian still life photography. He was also one of the first Soviet photographers who worked in advertising. He was a pupil of Alexander Grinberg and a friend of Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova. It was he who helped and encouraged Stepanova to start the Sovetskaya zhenshchina magazine in 1945. Around that time he got actively involved in the fashion and advertising industry of the USSR. Together with Georgy Soshalsky, in 1961 he founded Novator, a highly influential photo club.
