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The March of the German POWs

Dmitri Baltermants

Artwork Details

The March of the German POWs
circa 1941-1945, 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
2015/2.107

Description

Subject Matter:

In this photograph, a column of German POWs march through a hilly, though seemingly empty, landscape. The diminutive silhouettes of men on horseback stand along the horizon line, evidently overseeing the march of these captured soldiers. The panoramic angle of the photograph allows the viewer to see the files of men winding like a long ribbon through the eastern European steppe near an unidentified town which lay in the distance. No insignia or martial accoutrements remain to identify the ranks or statuses of these men.  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 (1939-1945), known in the USSR as the Great Patriotic War.  

Physical Description:

Wide-angle photograph of soldiers marching through a hilly landscape. Men on horseback and a spattering of buildings dot the horizon line.

Usage Rights:

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