Alexander Rodchenko was a founding member of Russian Constructivism—the avant-garde movement characterized by unembellished abstraction— along with Vladimir Tatlin. He was known for his politically motivated photography, posters, paintings, and sculpture. “The avant-garde of Communist culture is obligated to show how and what needs to be photographed,” he said of the medium. “What to shoot—is something every photo group knows but how to shoot—only a few know.”Born on November 23, 1891 in St. Petersburg, Russia, he studied drawing and painting at the Kazan School of Fine Arts and architecture at the Stroganov School of Applied Art. An early influence came from Kazimir Malevich, whose Suprematist...