Stormpark Fort de Kock in Bukittinggi 1891 - 1912

This photograph of Stormpark Fort de Kock in Bukittinggi was taken by Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis, but we don’t know exactly when. The image feels like a study in atmosphere, with a limited tonal range – greys, browns, and the pale suggestion of greens. It’s like one of those old movies where the world is muted. You can almost feel the humidity hanging in the air. I'm drawn to the way the mountain sits in the background, its peak softened by clouds. It mirrors the way Caspar David Friedrich used landscape to evoke a sense of romantic longing. The eye is led through the ordered architecture of the Stormpark towards the sublime form of the mountain, with those trees like so many dark brushstrokes. It’s not about what’s there, but about how we experience the scene. Art’s about feeling, right?