Gezicht op een groep onbekende personen waarvan één met een trommel die vermoedelijk een strijd of slag naspelen before 1889

This small photographic print, of unknown date and authorship, depicts a group of people, one with a drum, apparently re-enacting a battle or fight. Although the figures appear to be acting out a historical scene, perhaps from the medieval or early modern period, such civic performances were common in 19th-century Europe. Revivals of folk culture, and historical re-enactments, were a way of cementing national identity. The staging of a performance for the camera suggests the importance of circulating images as part of this project of identity formation. To understand this image better we could look at the history of photography and performance, together with studies of nationalism and folk culture in 19th-century Europe. Historical research of this kind helps us to see how images play an active role in constructing our sense of shared identity.