Groep soldaten op een brug 1903 - 1913

Curator: Here we have an anonymous gelatin silver print from between 1903 and 1913, titled "Groep soldaten op een brug" – "Group of soldiers on a bridge." It feels like a forgotten snapshot from a troubled time. What is your impression? Editor: Somber, heavy. All those uniforms against such wild growth. The weight of the world. And look at the greyscale, how muted everything is. Curator: Precisely. The composition itself is fascinating. We see this troop of soldiers crowded together on a narrow bridge, poised like they might move. Editor: Almost as though they are stuck or halted. A study in browns and shades... What statement might this "landscape in motion" portray? Curator: I interpret their stance and positioning with respect to that of their location - perhaps one of resistance. If this image represents reality with any sort of realistic merit. It presents as "matter-of-fact". Editor: Agreed! But I am struck by the anonymous nature. You'd think something like this would have some sort of documentation tied to it. Who are these soldiers? What is their story? This photograph is an almost too starkly elegant representation of this, though. Curator: True! This image also begs many questions for me, now... Is this staging real, and captured on photograph - as we both assume? If that be the case, then surely it can provide for an image or statement with just the correct staging - no matter what event truly happens. What is true after all? What statement are we to then truly perceive? This photo, I think, might leave with us this single greatest pondering. Editor: It absolutely forces the question. The way that the greyscale values blend. What really is dark and what really is light and in-between... I will keep asking myself the question. What statement must I portray for that moment in time?