Aangelegde dam op de Stabat plantage, Sumatra c. 1890 - 1900

This photograph, taken in Sumatra by Heinrich Ernst & Co, shows a newly constructed dam on the Stabat plantation. The image itself is a product of a specific chemical process, early photography, but its real subject is another process: the imposition of human labor on the landscape. Notice the raw, unfinished quality of the dam, and the figures scattered across the scene. While those in the foreground appear to be supervisors, dressed in light-colored clothing, the other figures are much harder to discern. It's a picture of both creation and extraction, the transformation of nature into a commodity, and the labor that makes it all possible. A photograph is always a kind of extraction, and here it records another, deeper one, the transformation of Sumatra into a profitable landscape. So, consider this photograph as more than just a record; it's a document of power, labor, and the making of a colonial landscape.