Skip to main content

Electrician, Cuba

Dmitri Baltermants

Artwork Details

Electrician, Cuba
circa 1970s, 2003
Dmitri Baltermants
gelatin silver print on paper
16 in x 20 in (40.64 cm x 50.8 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Agah, Class of 1989 (BBA)
2014/2.307

On Display

Not currently on display

Description

Subject Matter:

In this photograph, an electrician wearing shorts and a hat but no shirt strings wire through his hands before attaching them to an electrical pole. He stands precariously on a wooden ladder, the triangular form of which echoes that of the gabled roof on the left-hand side of the image. The picture’s overall sense of precarity is reinforced by the angle, in which all objects seem to lean slightly to the left. Two wooden sculptures of nude or partially dressed men with long hair provide visual counterparts to the living man on the right-hand side of the image. The carved, lifeless faces of these sculptures fill in for the hidden face of the man who is ostensibly the subject of this photograph. 

Physical Description:

A man attaches wires to a wooden pole in the right foreground; humanoid sculptures adorn a pointed roof and chimney on the left. 

Usage Rights:

If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.