Weg met haarspeldbochten, auto's en een kar tussen Paja Kombo en Bangkinan op Sumatra c. 1914 - 1917

Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis made this photograph of a road between Paja Kombo and Bangkinan in Sumatra. What I see here is a world slowly revealing itself through muted tones and textures. It’s like the photograph is breathing, slowly exhaling the details of this Sumatran landscape. The road itself is a fascinating subject; it’s not just a pathway but a construction, almost like a sculpture winding through the landscape. There's a tension between the natural and the constructed. See how the curves of the road echo the curves of the hills, but the road is so deliberately built? It makes me think about how we try to impose ourselves on the world, and how the world always pushes back. The sepia tone adds to this feeling of a world both present and past. It reminds me a bit of Carleton Watkins's landscapes, that same sense of vastness and human endeavor, but filtered through a different lens. The photo leaves you questioning what it means to leave your mark, and whether that mark is a scar or a story.