Armed Bechuanas in 1893

On the other hand, it doesn’t properly reflect the involvement of many Batswana in the South African War of 1899-1902 or in the first world war in South West Africa. Archival photos are invariably tantalising.

They tend to come with either minimal information, with information which has no immediate value or with no information at all.  What is then left is the need to try and tease out information from the photo; in other words to try and get it speak to you.