As an advanced Red Army mortar patrol goes into action amid the rocky, snow covered slopes of the Northern Caucasus, their observer crouches low on the mountaintop to watch and report the effect of their firing. Latest reports from Soviet forces say they have lost the military base and rail center at Belgorod, 50 miles northeast of Kharkov, to attacking Nazis. The claim was made by Berlin radio today, March 1943.

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)

This object has the following keywords:

• European Theater
• Germany
• Mortar crews
• Mortars
• Northern Caucasus
• Red Army
• Snow
• Soldiers
• Soviet Artillery
• Spotters
• Winter
• World War II

This object is a member of the following portfolios: