we're going back almost to the beginning.
no, the researchers are not going back to the beginning in a block universe of Albert the great. they are trying to see photons/waves that old, that emerged from eternal uncreated energy. but the Webb images show very strong gravity distortions/foreground lensing.
Imagine when they look at a place/time with an horizon, when all the mass/energy of the universe was compressed into an even smaller sphere?
What does the big bang look like now? look at your fingers. they were in the big bang too, as new matter made from energy. yes, your body's matter was in the Big Beginning in the form of energy, otherwise you would not be here. and
somebody living 13.8 billion light years away might be trying to see you right now.ha ha.