Fotoreproductie van een tekening, voorstellende de oevers van de Dua nabij Monveda before 1899

This photogravure presents a drawing of the banks of the Dua near Monveda. Though anonymous, we can understand it as a colonial-era depiction, made for distribution in a book about the Mongala region. Photogravure is a printmaking process, using a photographic image transferred to a metal plate, and then etched. Here, this allows for the mass reproduction of an image that would otherwise require a skilled hand to create. The image is rendered in fine detail, capturing the texture of the water and the lush vegetation along the riverbanks. This photogravure embodies the intersection of art, industry, and colonialism. The labor involved in creating the original drawing and the subsequent printmaking process are obscured, yet they speak to the wider social issues of labor and the exploitation of resources in colonial contexts. The print served a purpose, not just aesthetic but to inform and reinforce a particular view of the region.