Accession Number
2012/2.75

Title
A Call to Arms

Artist(s)
Dmitri Baltermants

Artist Nationality
Russian (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1941-1945

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 the foreground of this photograph, a young Soviet soldier holding a pair of binoculars stands next to an antitank gun as he yells in a direction out of the picture plane toward the lower-left. The viewer looks down onto this man at a steep angle. In addition, the ground behind him appears to tilt upward dramatically, where can be seen six other soldiers running toward the viewer. The background of the image is taken up by slivers of varying gray tones that indicate distant fields, trees, and sky. 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
A soldier holding a pair of binoculars cries out while a number of other soldiers rush up through a field behind him. 

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
artillery
battles
binoculars
journalistic photography
officers (administrators)
soldiers
war photography