Met de hand uitgraven van greppels en waterbassins voor een irrigatiesysteem c. 1900 - 1935

This stereoscopic photograph of workers digging irrigation ditches in Java was made by Neville Keasberry, though the date is unknown. The image, split in two, hints at a process of seeing double, a kind of doubling down, I think, on the physical labor involved. The tonality is muted, a range of grays that flatten the landscape and the figures working within it, making the scene feel both immediate and distant, somehow. Look at the lone figure leading an animal, maybe a donkey, through the center of the frame. It’s a small detail, but it speaks to the scale of the project, and the relationship between humans and the labor that binds them to the land. It reminds me of some of the WPA photography from the 1930s. The conversation around art and labor is ongoing, ever expanding, isn't it? There's no right answer, just a constant questioning and re-evaluation.