Pagina 111 van fotoboek van de Algemeene Vereeniging van Rubberplanters ter Oostkust van Sumatra (A.V.R.O.S.) c. 1924 - 1925

This photograph, taken by J.W. Meyster, is a page from a photo book documenting the Rubber Planters Association on the east coast of Sumatra. What strikes me is the softness, the way the scene almost dissolves into a sepia-toned dream. It's not about sharp details; it's about atmosphere, about capturing a sense of place and industry. Look at the way the light filters through the trees, creating a hazy effect. You can almost feel the humidity. The baskets suspended mid-air, full of rubber, become these ghostly, repetitive forms, like a visual echo of the labor happening here. There’s a strangeness to the image, a feeling that it is documenting something brutal, and that it is also very beautiful. Meyster's photo reminds me of some of the work of early 20th-century photographers like Alvin Langdon Coburn, who used soft-focus techniques to create a painterly effect. It's a reminder that photography, like painting, is about more than just representation; it's about interpretation, about finding a way to convey the essence of a subject.