Dmitri Baltermants, Russian, 1912–1990
Band of Brothers (left panel of panorama)
Negative about 1941–45; print 2003
Gelatin silver print
Sheet: 11 x 14 in.
Purchased through a gift from Harley and Stephen C. Osman, Class of 1956, Tuck 1957; PH.2003.56.82
In this image, Dimitri Baltermants captures soldiers posing for a panoramic military snapshot. Their smiles and relaxed expressions are at odds with their weapons and military regalia. Perhaps one of the soldiers in the front row has told a joke or made a funny comment, causing his comrades to laugh. Yet, the strong, sweeping diagonal of the cannon in the background serves as a reminder of the fact that they are in a time and place of war.
Baltermants was a Polish-born Russian photographer whose upbringing was heavily shaped by the Russian Revolution. His father, a tsarist army officer, moved the Baltermants family around frequently and exposed them to the turmoil and chaos of war. Baltermants initially intended to teach math in the military, but in 1939 found his passion for photography. From 1941 to 1945, he traveled with the Soviet army through Poland, the Ukraine, and Berlin. He sought to capture both the action of the war and, as seen here, moments that reveal the humanity of the soldiers