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In the Trenches

Dmitri Baltermants

Artwork Details

In the Trenches
1941-1945
Dmitri Baltermants
gelatin silver print on paper
16 in (40.64 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Agah, Class of 1989 (BBA)
2012/2.72

On Display

Not currently on display

Description

Subject Matter:

In this photograph, a group of seven Soviet soldiers file through a shallow trench dug into an undulating field. The grassy terrain fills the foreground and tilts upward until it is cut off abruptly by the clear sky in the distance. While the soldiers all attempt to conceal themselves in the trench, the viewer remains conspicuously exposed. This image forms part of Baltermants’s larger project (as an official photographer to the Kremlin) which, spread across numerous portfolios, aimed to document scenes from the Soviet Union’s fight against Nazi Germany during World War II, known in the USSR as the Great Patriotic War. 

Physical Description:

Seven soldiers form a single-file line as they crouch in a shallow trench dug into a field.

Usage Rights:

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