WORLD WAR II: THE WINTER WAR IN FINLAND, 1939-1940., MYDANS, CARL. 1907-2004.

An Archive of approximately 200 photographs, documenting action in the Finnish campaign against Russia. 1939-1940.

MYDANS, CARL. 1907-2004. An Archive of approximately 200 photographs, documenting action in the Finnish campaign against Russia. 1939-1940. Gelatin silver prints, all approximately 4 x 6 inches (95 x 145mm), depicting scenes of the conflict in the field and on the home front, soldiers in action, war-ravaged buildings and military vehicles, as well as general images of the people and buildings in Finland. Most with Carl Mydans ink stamps on verso, and a few with penciled captions, all slightly curled from drying on a drum-type print dryer.

A fine collection of photo-journalistic images of the vicious Winter War between the USSR and Finland from November 1939 to March 1940, which was concluded in a Peace Treaty in 1940. Hitler supported the Finnish with military equipment to wage guerilla warfare against the Russian troops, despite having a non-aggression Pact with Stalin. Again in 1941 the Germans and Finns collaborated in the "Continuation War" against the USSR, just as Operation Barbarossa, began on the Eastern Front. Carl Mydans established his career photographing scenes of American rural life during the great depression, and was one of Life magazine's first staff photographers, along with Alfred Eisenstaedt and Margaret Bourke-White. During World War II he and his wife Shelley traveled throughout Europe and Asia, and were both captured by the Japanese during the invasion of the Philippines, and held prisoner for months. He was responsible for many iconic WWII war images.