Army Unit in Position during the Winter in the Second Anglo-Afghan War Possibly 1879

John Burke made this photograph of an army unit in Afghanistan, using a wet collodion process, which was then state-of-the-art technology. A darkroom tent was essential in this process; a portable facility was needed on location to prepare, sensitize, expose, and develop the glass plates before they dried out. This cumbersome, skilled work had to happen on the front lines of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The image shows the stark conditions faced by these soldiers, the weight of their kit, and the labor it took to move and operate in this landscape. This image is more than just a historical record. Its very making was embedded in the social conditions it depicts. It bridges the story of Victorian-era photographic ingenuity with the realities of imperial campaign. So, thinking about process gives us insight into the layers of context that photography can reveal.