Accession Number
2014/2.307

Title
Electrician, Cuba

Artist(s)
Dmitri Baltermants

Artist Nationality
Russian (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
circa 1970s, 2003

Medium & Support
gelatin silver print on paper

Dimensions
16 in x 20 in (40.64 cm x 50.8 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Agah, Class of 1989 (BBA)

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. 

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

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

Keywords
electricians
ladders
poles (wood products)
sculpture (visual works)