Geënsceneerde voorstelling van soldaten van de New South Wales Imperial Bushmen rennend bij Mafeking 1901

Here's a staged photograph of soldiers running by Underwood & Underwood, where we can almost feel the ground tremble beneath their feet, the air thick with anticipation or fear. I imagine the photographer arranging these figures across the open field. Can you see them carefully calibrating each pose, trying to capture the perfect balance between chaos and order? Were they thinking about how to freeze motion, the way that Degas did with ballerinas or Marey with his chronophotography? It's a delicate dance of capturing life, even when staged. What strikes me is the bravery it takes to step into the role of an artist, of a witness. It reminds me of the quiet moments in my own studio when I'm trying to translate some inner feeling into color and form. The feeling that you’re wrestling with something in front of you that other artists have wrestled with. We are all, in our own ways, echoing the gestures of those who came before us.