Gezicht op rustende soldaten in een veld tijdens de grote reis door Transvaal onder bevel van Lord Roberts (Frederick Sleigh Roberts) 1901

This old stereograph, ‘Gezicht op rustende soldaten in een veld...’, of ‘resting soldiers in a field…’, was made by an anonymous photographer, likely with a big, bulky camera, back during Lord Roberts' march through Transvaal. What strikes me is the endless repetition of bodies, guns, and hats, smeared into the dry, grassy ground. It's like a landscape painting, only the 'landscape' is made up of resting or exhausted bodies. I imagine the photographer setting up the shot, and the challenge of capturing such a scene. The photograph itself looks tired. Look at the way the figures blend into the earth, a kind of tonal harmony achieved by dust and time. The sepia tones really evoke a sense of the past. It’s hard to make out individual forms, but this lack of detail makes it feel more immediate, like a fleeting memory. I see echoes of Muybridge's motion studies, but instead of scientific precision, there's a feeling of human endurance and the collective experience of marching across the land. Like a painting by numbers gone wrong.