Pagina 150 van fotoboek van de Algemeene Vereeniging van Rubberplanters ter Oostkust van Sumatra (A.V.R.O.S.) c. 1924 - 1925

This photograph of a coconut plantation in Sumatra was taken by J.W. Meyster, as part of a book documenting the activities of the General Association of Rubber Planters. While photography is often considered a documentary medium, here it takes on a promotional role, celebrating the scale and order of the plantation system. Look closely and you can see a small railway used to transport the coconuts. The very organization of this landscape speaks to industrial processes. The repetitive rows of trees, the efficient transport system, all point to a capitalist enterprise aimed at maximizing production. The photograph also invites us to consider the human labor involved in creating this scene, labor that remains invisible. By focusing on the material realities of this image – the photographic paper itself, the ordered rows of coconut trees, and the implied network of extraction and distribution – we can begin to understand the complex relationship between art, industry, and colonial exploitation.