Parade van soldaten uit India voor Victoria van het Verenigd Koninkrijk in Londen 1902

This stereo image was made by Underwood & Underwood in 1902 using a photographic process that lets you see an event in three dimensions. Look closely at the lines of soldiers, each carrying a spear. The image quality is blurry, the figures slightly indistinct, as if you are witnessing something from the past, or perhaps even a dream. The artist has made no attempt to conceal the medium, it is literally black and white. The image feels like it captures something fleeting, the moment when an empire was at its peak perhaps, or the instant before it begins to decline. The eye is drawn into the mass, the spectacle, and it is difficult to focus on any one person. I am reminded of the work of Gerhard Richter, who also worked with photography, creating paintings from blurry, often indistinct found images that capture a moment in time. In both instances, there is a sense of ambiguity, a feeling that definitive meaning lies just beyond our grasp.