Militairen leiden hun paarden naar het water onderweg naar Pretoria, Zuid-Afrika 1900

This stereoscopic image shows soldiers leading their horses to water on their way to Pretoria, South Africa. The image, taken by an anonymous photographer, dates back to a time when the British Empire sought to expand its reach in southern Africa. This photograph captures a moment during the Second Boer War, revealing the human and animal labor intertwined with imperial ambitions. The soldiers, likely of British descent, are presented in a seemingly mundane act, yet the broader context hints at the conflict and displacement inflicted on the local Boer population. The photograph, in its own way, romanticizes the journey of these colonizers. Look closely, and you can see the hardship etched on the faces of the soldiers. Their journey mirrors the larger colonial project: a relentless march, powered by the exploitation of land, animals, and people. In the end, the image asks us to consider whose stories are told and whose are obscured in the grand narratives of empire.