Inspectie van de geweren van het Worcestershire Regiment in Slingersfontein in Zuid-Afrika 1900

Editor: This gelatin-silver print, "Inspectie van de geweren van het Worcestershire Regiment in Slingersfontein in Zuid-Afrika", from around 1900 by Underwood & Underwood, strikes me as surprisingly intimate given its subject. It's a pretty stark and somewhat unsettling scene, but the almost portrait-like framing softens that a little, don't you think? What do you make of its composition? Curator: It's the stillness, isn't it? The quiet before a storm – quite literally in this case. Looking at this ghostly parade, I almost hear the desert wind whispering through the ranks. Makes you wonder what thoughts ran through those soldiers' minds; poised before a battle that time’s all but forgotten. The two panels almost become a pair of watchful eyes, documenting a grim ceremony. Don't you think there is a certain starkness here? Editor: I do. It’s fascinating how they captured that sense of suspended animation. Knowing it’s photojournalism gives it such an immediate, gripping feel. But there's also this distance, viewing them like specimens under glass. Does that duality hit you too? Curator: Absolutely. Like catching a glimpse of a faded dream – the glory and the grit of it all muddled together in sepia tones. You start wondering about the people behind the rifles – those lives suspended between duty and destiny. Does this imagery seem dated to you? Editor: Perhaps dated, but far from irrelevant. These faces, frozen in time, still prompt such reflection on our current reality. This moment of inspection captures not only a historical event but also touches upon universal themes of human conflict. Curator: I concur entirely! Underwood and Underwood gave a visual poem - to dust they will all eventually return!