Groep soldaten te paard tijdens de Boerenoorlog in Colesberg, Zuid-Afrika 1900

Curator: This is a gelatin silver print from 1900, showing a group of mounted soldiers during the Boer War in Colesberg, South Africa. The work is by an anonymous photographer. Editor: It's almost bleak, isn’t it? That parched earth stretching into the distance, and then this unwavering line of soldiers. It feels relentless, somehow. Like a march toward something inevitable and probably terrible. Curator: The composition reinforces that feeling, I think. Notice how the soldiers occupy almost the entire frame, emphasizing their collective mass, their unified purpose. And how the photographer positioned the horizon line low to stress the openness of the terrain, contributing to a feeling of exposure. Editor: Right. They’re so exposed! I mean, imagine being out there, on horseback, in that kind of landscape. You wouldn’t stand a chance if you came under fire. Is it me, or can you almost smell the dry grass and horses, mixed with, well…fear? Curator: The use of light and shadow also speaks volumes. Look at how the stark contrast accentuates the soldiers’ figures, throwing their faces into shadow and rendering them almost uniform, faceless, components of a military machine. This adds to the sense of a monolithic, implacable force advancing across the landscape. The photographer intentionally diminished the humanity, the individual identities. Editor: Gosh, you make it sound so…calculated! And, in a way, it must have been. These early photos – particularly of conflicts – they were propaganda as much as anything else, weren’t they? Even though the technology was still relatively new, it’s amazing how aware they were of its power to influence public opinion. You look at that relentless line of figures. Curator: The image does transcend straightforward reportage by using the tools of art; in effect, manipulating perception, and using formal tools—tonal range, horizon line, perspective—to shape an argument about conflict and resolve. Editor: Well said. I look at this, and beyond the historical context and formal analysis, I just feel a pang of empathy. Those guys… off to face whatever was coming. The photograph manages to freeze both the specific moment, and yet simultaneously conjure this much larger sense of the grind and tragedy of it all. It is quite effective in its sparseness. Curator: Indeed. It lingers with me now as well.