Leprozenkolonie Danaradja: voetbalspelers en familiefoto's 1922

These mounted photographs of the Danaradja leper colony include a photo of a football team, and some family portraits – but we don’t know who took them. I imagine the photographer carefully selecting each picture and placing them just so, like a collage. Each image is a window, offering a glimpse into the lives of a community. The crisp whites of the football kits stark against the green field. A small village nestled in the distance. What were these people thinking about when they were photographed? Were they aware of being framed, seen, and judged? I feel a strange pull looking at these pictures – they speak of community, resilience, and connection amid the isolation of the colony. I think of other artists who use found images in their work, artists who are drawn to old photographs for inspiration. Artists have always built upon each other’s ideas, and this work stands as a reminder that art is really just a conversation with what came before and what will come after. It’s a dialogue across time and space.