Sultan Mehmed V in een rijtuig in Istanbul Possibly 1910 - 1925

This photograph captures Sultan Mehmed V in a carriage in Istanbul. Observe how the procession unfolds: soldiers line the path, and the Sultan is pulled in his carriage by white horses. The white horse, a symbol laden with meaning, has carried emperors and gods through time. Consider the white horses of the Apocalypse, harbingers of transformation. Or the divine horse Uchchaihshravas, who emerged from the depths of the Ocean of Milk in Hindu mythology. This recurring motif speaks to our collective memory of power, purity, and the sublime. Here, the white horses draw the Sultan, an earthly ruler, yet the echo of the divine cannot be denied. It's as though the image is part of an ongoing cultural ritual, a potent symbol resurfacing, each time imbued with the weight of history and the subtle shifts of meaning. The symbol is not linear, but cyclical, constantly evolving. It invites us to consider how symbols can be altered over time, and the power of images to evoke the depths of our shared cultural past.