John Burke

‘Camp and Abattis At Sherpur. 5th Punjab Infantry. 25th Dec 1879.’ This picture was taken two days after one of the fiercest battles of the war. A force of 50,000 Afghans besieged and then attacked the Cantonment and had been repulsed by the defenders making special use of the new ‘Gatling’ machine guns. Why Burke didn’t photograph the aftermath is a mystery - more than 3,000 Afghan bodies lay on the minefield.

1878–80, printed by Simon Norfolk 2011

Sorry, no image available

Not on display

Artist
John Burke
Part of
Burke + Norfolk: Photographs from the war in Afghanistan
Medium
Photograph, digital C-print on paper
Dimensions
Image: 244.5 x 381 mm
support: 380 x 507 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Presented by Simon Norfolk 2016
Reference
P20614

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