Gezicht op brugreparaties aan de spoorlijn tussen Kroonstad en Pretoria, Zuid-Afrika 1900

This stereoscopic image shows repairs to a railway bridge between Kroonstad and Pretoria in South Africa. It would have been produced and distributed by the Underwood & Underwood company sometime around 1900. As an object of material culture, this photo tells us a lot about the relationship between technology, colonialism, and cultural institutions. The railway was a vital piece of infrastructure for resource extraction and military control in South Africa, and this bridge was likely damaged during the Second Boer War. Companies like Underwood & Underwood played a key role in creating popular narratives about that conflict. Stereoscopic images like this one were widely collected by middle-class families, and they often reinforced imperialist ideologies. A closer study of their distribution networks and reception in different social contexts can tell us a lot about the public role of photography and the politics of imagery in the early 20th century.