Gezicht op het Kerkplein in Pretoria met het gebouw waar krijgsgevangenen werden veroordeeld 1901

This small stereoscopic image shows us the Kerkplein in Pretoria with the building where prisoners of war were judged. It was likely made sometime around 1901. There’s a lot of information packed into this little card; a stark, sepia toned reality, captured in the full light of the day. The surface is smooth, and the gradations of tone are subtle, giving it an almost dreamlike quality. The building looms, a symbol of authority and judgement, while in the foreground, cattle cluster together. What gets me is how the soft focus makes the scene feel both immediate and distant, like a memory fading at the edges. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t have to shout to be heard; sometimes, it’s the quiet, unassuming pieces that linger longest in the mind. Like the work of someone like Agnes Martin, its power lies in its subtlety, inviting us to find our own meaning within its gentle embrace.