by Artist (2)
Unknown Photographer
Smolensk saw some of the hardest fighting on the Eastern Front. Only after putting up the fiercest resistance did the Russians abandon the city., August 1941
Vintage wire photograph on paper
Creation Place:
Asia
Technique:
Photography
Credit Line:
Restricted Gift of Michael Mattis, Judy Hochberg, and Daniel Mattis, in honor of Kathleen Stewart Howe
Accession Number:
P2019.21.908
Bibliography
Illustrated: Associated Press ID #4108171143.
Commentary
View of badly battered Smolensk, Russia on August 17, 1941. So strongly defended by the Russians until the very last. This city was the scene of some of the hardest fighting on the Eastern Front, and it was only after putting up the fiercest resistance that the Russians abandoned the city, August 1941.
Materials
Wire photographs were originally transmitted over phonelines, then later, by satellite. They were first used in the early 1920s. Associated Press became a leader with this. After pigment touch-ups, etc., the print is put into a drum (like a drum scanner). The image gets converted into audio tones that are transmitted. The tones are received and beamed onto photo-sensitive paper. Wire photographs are copies without originals---they are hybrid, transmitted objects. (Britt Salvesen, Curator and Department Head, Photography Department, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, March 30-31, 2022)
Keywords
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This object has the following keywords:
Battle of Smolensk 1941,
Cars,
Eastern Front,
European Theater,
Germany,
Rubble,
Smolensk,
Soviet Union,
Street Scenes,
World War II
- Battle of Smolensk 1941
- Cars
- Eastern Front
- European Theater
- Germany
- Rubble
- Smolensk
- Soviet Union
- Street Scenes
- World War II
Additional Images
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Your current search criteria is: Keyword is "COH" and [Object]Century is "20th c".
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For further inquiries, contact Associate Director/Registrar Steve Comba at steven.comba@pomona.edu.
For further inquiries, contact Associate Director/Registrar Steve Comba at steven.comba@pomona.edu.