Riettransport Djatiroto 1931 - 1934

Curator: I find myself captivated by the linear procession; a deliberate framing dividing space in such an elegant way, with this photography of Atelier Kurkdjian titled, Riettransport Djatiroto. Editor: Yes! It's all so… ordered, almost unsettlingly so, yet still possesses an arresting peacefulness. This row of stacked timber; are those carts running down the tracks behind the fence there? The grayscale really does convey an evocative calm. Curator: Exactly. Produced somewhere between 1931 and 1934, the gelatin silver print harnesses a unique convergence of geometry, depth, and atmospheric texture, don't you agree? Consider how that line both segregates yet subtly draws us toward an enigmatic depth of the scenery beyond it. Editor: It's a funny sort of barrier, isn’t it? Stark against the vague background like that; I see a duality—protection and obstruction existing in that photographic instant. Makes me wonder about the laborers transporting the reeds, almost invisible, like echoes amidst their industry. Are those… spirits there among the timbers? No… silly question! Curator: An interesting interpretation. I would argue instead that, the photographer directs our eye to perceive how the verticality of timber creates rhythm against nature. These semiotic gestures act as formal and material thresholds... or, perhaps even symbolic entry-points, no? Editor: "Entry-points"... Hmm, in a more abstract sense, maybe. All the same, to be really 'impactful,' the best photography really allows you to create the entry-point yourself with emotion! Curator: Fair enough, then, that it captures more than merely landscape—it captures something more... Editor: It absolutely shows us a world; distant but familiar at the same time... full of wonder.