Untitled (face of injured man) c. 1950

This small, undated photograph of an injured man’s face was made by Robert Burian. It is a gelatin silver print negative. The negative image is a powerful inversion. This has the effect of highlighting and distorting features: light becomes dark, and dark becomes light. The man’s eyes are disturbingly bright. The image may have been taken during the Second World War, which would account for the man’s military-style jacket. But the reasons for taking it, and its intended audience, remain unclear. The image could reflect the long-standing association between photography and ideas of evidence and documentation. Perhaps it was taken for military medical records. On the other hand, it could be seen to critique that very tradition. In this reading, the negative image challenges the assumption that photography can deliver objective truth. To understand the work better, we can look to archives of wartime medical photography and the history of portraiture. The meaning of this artwork depends on its social and institutional context.