SARASOTA, FLA.- On Oct. 14, Soviet Scenes: Baltermants’ Photographs of WWII and Photojournalism from the August Coup opened at The Ringling, presenting photojournalism from two key historic moments of the former USSR: World War II and the August Coup of 1991 that ended the communist regime. The exhibition highlights various styles of photojournalism and documentary images as distinctive content from each time period, underscoring both the climax and collapse of the Soviet era. It features works from the Ringling’s permanent collection and will remain on view through Jan. 8, 2017.

The first section of the exhibition showcases WWII through the lens of acclaimed photographer Dmitri Baltermants. Baltermants was key in constructing the image of the Soviet Union at war. He photographed for the state-run newspaper Izvestia and for the Red Army during the war. Serving as both a soldier and photojournalist, he became a witness to the conflict. The visual style of his images often mirror the drama of American war photojournalists of the era, but other scenes are more obviously staged and carefully composed, reflecting the official Socialist Realism of the state.

“Soviet Scenes is a truly a unique opportunity for viewers to consider two very different approaches to photojournalism at two crucial moments in the history,” said Christopher Jones, associate curator of photography and exhibitions at The Ringling. “Baltermants was a pioneering figure when it came to Soviet war photography, or photojournalism in Soviet culture in general. His images contributed to a new sense of patriotism and Soviet national identity that arose after World War II.”

In contrast, the August Coup is shown through a range of press images, including photographs by Shepard Sherbell, documenting the events of the attempted coup that took place in August 1991. On Aug. 19 a group of hard-lined Communist Party members hostile to Gorbachev’s reforms staged an attempted coup to depose the leader and restore authoritarian rule. The movement ran against popular sentiment and citizens took to the streets in defiance. While short lived, this political crisis lead to the end of the Communist Party and Soviet regime. The images in this portion of the exhibition witness the dissolution of an empire and document life in countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union.

“The reportage from the August coup are from a variety of perspectives, both Russian and foreign and capture the hectic events that brought down the USSR,” Jones said. “These are often rawer, though equally emotional, up-to-the-minute images for the international news media. It is quite fascinating to compare and contrast how these historical events were recorded.”