Untitled (Women and SS Guards), (from the series Mein Kampf)
Artist
David Levinthal
(American, born 1949)
Date1994
MediumDye destruction print (Polaroid Polacolor ER Land Film)
DimensionsImage: 25 × 20 3/4 in. (63.5 × 52.7 cm)
Support: 27 5/8 × 22 in. (70.2 × 55.9 cm)
Mat: 30 × 25 in. (76.2 × 63.5 cm)
Support: 27 5/8 × 22 in. (70.2 × 55.9 cm)
Mat: 30 × 25 in. (76.2 × 63.5 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Bobbie Foshay, 2017
Object number2017.24.20
DescriptionIn foreground are two figures, one at left of composition and one at right, wearing military uniforms with the insignia of the Nazi party, boots, and helmets. In middle ground is a line of three nude women, arranged from left to center of picture as if parading in front of the soldiers. Background is primarily red and unfocused with two spotlights.eMuseum Notes
This photograph comes from a larger series
titled “Mein Kampf” (“my struggle” in German and the title of a 1925 book by
Adolf Hitler) in which the artist uses toy soldiers and other figurines to set
up photographic tableaux that examine of the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany.
Though we realize this is a constructed scene, the composition and lighting
create a powerful and disturbing image. His use of toys and staging reminds us
of the fragility of memory and the inadequacy of facts in the face of major
historical events. In trying to comprehend the devastating consequences of
Hitler’s vision, even having a historical record leaves us with an out-of-focus
picture of how it came to be.
On View
Not on view
