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Sharpshooter in the Schoolhouse, Germany

Dmitri Baltermants

Artwork Details

Sharpshooter in the Schoolhouse, Germany
1945; printed 2003
Dmitri Baltermants
gelatin silver print on paper
16 in x 20 in (40.64 cm x 50.8 cm)
Gift of Thomas Wilson '79 and Jill Garling '80
2013/2.324

Description

Subject Matter:

In the foreground of this photograph, the dead body of an anonymous soldier cuts diagonally across the floor of an abandoned schoolroom. Pale light pours in through an open window on the right-hand side. A drawing of two chimpanzees decorates the back wall, an oddly jovial element in a scene that is largely about death. This image forms part of Baltermants’ 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 (1939-1945), known in the USSR as the Great Patriotic War.

Physical Description:

A dead body sprawls across a straw-covered floor in an empty room while light pours in from the open window on the right-hand side of the photograph.

Usage Rights:

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