Divided into two galleries of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Soviet Scenes: Baltermants’ Photographs of WWII and Photojournalism from the August Coup highlights two of the most formative periods of the former USSR—World War II, where it emerged a global superpower, and the August Coup, which ended the regime. The events of World War II, from the fighting outside Moscow to the taking of Berlin, are laid bare through the photographs of Dmitri Baltermants, the soldier and photojournalist whose work often functioned as state propaganda but remained unafraid to record the emotional toll of the war, even if it would ultimately be censored. The tumultuous three days of the August Coup, when high-ranking state officials and the chairman of the KGB formed the Gang of Eight to oust Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, are presented through the work of various Western photojournalists, including Shepard Sherbell, capturing everything from the conflict in the streets of Moscow to the reactions of those living in neighboring Soviet states. On display at The Ringling through January 8.