Het leger van Lord Roberts (Frederick Sleigh Roberts) wacht op orders om Pretoria te betreden, 5 juni 1900 1900

This stereoscopic image, made around 1900 by an anonymous photographer, shows Lord Roberts' army, poised to enter Pretoria. The photograph is a mass-produced artifact, made possible by industrial advances in photography and printing. It was sold as a souvenir, a token of British imperial power. But consider the conditions of the scene: the arid landscape, the tense anticipation of the soldiers. Every uniform was manufactured, every rifle forged, every boot stitched, contributing to a vast economic engine. These men, in their standardized kits, are part of a machine – a literal war machine, but also a system of production and consumption on a global scale. It's easy to overlook the material reality of such an image, to focus only on its historical subject. But the photo itself, and everything within it, speaks volumes about labor, politics, and the relentless logic of empire. Examining these elements allows us to appreciate the complex ways in which the photograph's social context is linked to the modes of production of the time.