Gezicht op het medische korps onderweg naar het front vanuit Kaapstad, Zuid-Afrika 1900

This stereograph shows the New South Wales Medical Corps moving to the front from Cape Town, South Africa, and was published by Underwood & Underwood. Stereographs like this were printed using mass production techniques, making photography widely accessible. The process involved taking two photographs of the same scene from slightly different angles, then mounting them side-by-side. When viewed through a stereoscope, the image appears three-dimensional. The material of a stereograph is relatively humble – paper, card, and ink. But in this case, the modest materials capture a scene of military activity, an army on the move. As a result, it allows us to ponder the economics of war at the turn of the 20th century. Looking closely, you can notice the contrast between the immediacy of the photographic scene and the mass production of the stereograph. By considering the relationship between the image, its mode of production, and its wider social context, we gain a deeper understanding of its meaning and significance.