Accession Number2012/2.72
TitleIn the Trenches
Artist(s)Dmitri BaltermantsArtist NationalityRussian (culture or style)Object Creation Date1941-1945Medium & Supportgelatin silver print on paperDimensions 16 in (40.64 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. James Agah, Class of 1989 (BBA)Subject matterIn 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 DescriptionSeven soldiers form a single-file line as they crouch in a shallow trench dug into a field.
Primary Object ClassificationPhotographCollection AreaPhotographyRightsIf you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit
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Keywords
battlefields
battles
journalistic photography
soldiers
trenches
war photography