Acme Telephoto, American, active 1923–1952
An Infantryman Looks at His Dead Comrades in Julich
1944
Gelatin silver print
Image: 6 1/8 x 8 9/16 in.
Gift of Paula and Mack Lee; 2017.60.6
This photograph, taken by an unknown photographer during World War II in Julich, Germany, shows a young American soldier surveying a field littered with the bodies of his dead comrades. His tense, crouched posture and raised gun may indicate that the firefight has not yet ended. The photographer took this image from behind the soldier, thereby hiding his facial expression and creating ambiguity as to the direction of his gaze—at his comrades or at an unseen foe? The sense of isolation is palpable, since the soldier may be the lone survivor of a brutal onslaught. The bodies of his fellow soldiers almost blend into the low-contrast foliage, giving the image a discomforting, ethereal quality.