The Battle Awaits
Dmitri Baltermants
Description
Subject Matter:
In this photograph, a Soviet soldier in a rounded helmet and long coat peers through binoculars toward the left-hand side. Four additional soldiers man anti-tank guns in the middle ground, appearing almost to dissolve into the dense fog, or smoke, which covers the upper register of the image. This fog serves to obscure not only our view of other soldiers in the Red Army, but also those in the Nazi German army. 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:
In the lower-right foreground, a soldier with a round helmet peers through binoculars. In the middle ground, other soldiers man an anti-tank gun while fog and/or smoke fills the upper register of the photograph.
Usage Rights:
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