In Murom with Banksy

This photo is often called “A Second Before Happiness.” The picture became famous in 2009 when it was posted on Twitter by street artist Banksy. The photo itself is staged, taken in 1957 in Murom¹. The staff of the Murom Museum even found a relative of the characters, Murom resident Anna Shubina.

The boy in the photo is her father-in-law Pavel Borisovich Nikolsky, he is 2 years old in the picture. The puppy is held behind his back by his grandfather, Ivan Pavlovich Nikolsky. The author of the photo is the Nikolskys’ neighbor, Nikolai Ivanovich Zinoviev. He worked as a photographer at the Dzerzhinsky plant for many years. Even the puppy’s name is known – Gek. It was during those days that a puppy and a kitten were taken into the Nikolskys’ house at the same time, and the kitten was named Chuk.

1. Murom – City in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. Murom is a historical city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which sprawls along the west bank of the Oka River. It borders Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and is situated 137 kilometres from the administrative center Vladimir. Its population as of the 2021 Census was 107,497. ↩︎