Gezicht op een vlakte bij Ladysmith waar in de Tweede Boerenoorlog is gevochten 1901

This is a stereo image by Underwood & Underwood, capturing a view near Ladysmith during the Second Boer War, sometime around the turn of the century. The sepia tones really set the mood, don't they? It's all earth and sky, a landscape marked by history. What I find so striking is the flatness. It’s almost like looking at a very early, stripped-down Gerhard Richter. The horizon line is soft, almost blurred, as if the land and sky are breathing together. The texture in the foreground almost has a palpable roughness. You can practically feel the dry grass under your feet. This piece feels very of its time, but also timeless. The composition reminds me a little of some of the Hudson River School painters, but without the romanticism. It's a document, a record, and yet, it invites you to project your own feelings, your own history, onto its surface.