Dynamics and Physics of Bodies of the Solar System Russian Photometry is one of the most productive investigation techniques which has provided a considerable body of valuable information on albedos and sizes, shapes and rotation, optical and structural properties of asteroids and other small solar system bodies. The contribution of photometry to the determination of the asteroid characteristics is decisive. We present the progress of photometry in three most important directions of asteroid study, namely, determination of asteroid shapes and rotation parameters, study of optical properties of asteroid surfaces as well as detection and investigation of binary asteroid systems. asteroid,photometry