Drie gezichten op een militaire parade op het terrein van de United States Naval Academy te Annapolis before 1890

Editor: This gelatin silver print, "Drie gezichten op een militaire parade op het terrein van de United States Naval Academy te Annapolis," created before 1890 by Edward H. Hart, captures three perspectives of what appears to be a military parade. The multiple exposures create a strange effect, but overall, I’m struck by the sheer rigidity and order depicted. What can you tell me about it? Curator: This piece, at first glance, seems like a straightforward depiction of military precision. But let’s think about what a military parade really signifies. It is a visual representation of power, of enforced order, and a public display meant to inspire awe, or perhaps, obedience. Looking at it through a critical lens, we must question the context: pre-1890s America, still grappling with the legacies of slavery and expansion. What narratives are being deliberately presented here, and whose voices are notably absent? Editor: So you're suggesting that behind the seeming order, there are complexities around power and exclusion at play? Curator: Precisely. Hart chooses to highlight this particular display of institutional power. We should consider the subjects’ class, race, and gender, how they perform under surveillance and for the camera’s gaze. Ask yourself: Who benefits from this show of force, and who might be threatened by it? Does photography, even then, play a role in normalizing this sort of spectacle? Editor: I never thought about photography’s role in reinforcing existing power structures like that. It makes you wonder what other underlying social messages are hiding in plain sight. Curator: Exactly! And that’s what makes art, and its history, so endlessly fascinating—and urgently relevant. Editor: Thanks. Now I see a whole different meaning behind those three panels.