Anton bij sluis in achterdam van "Ma retraite" 1903 - 1910

Hendrik Doijer made this photo, Anton bij sluis in achterdam van "Ma retraite", sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. It's a small photograph, just a few inches wide, capturing a scene deep in the foliage with a body of water in the foreground and a boy standing still. I imagine Doijer, lugging his camera equipment through this dense growth, searching for the right angle. The light is dappled, filtered through the leaves, creating a contrast between light and shadow. The kid is gazing out at the scene as though he might know how it all comes together, the light, the growth, the water. Looking at this photo I’m reminded of painters like Henri Rousseau who were trying to capture their own imagined jungles. It's the same impulse, to bring the exotic, the unknown, into view. What's revealed might give insight into how we fit into the wider world, or how we see ourselves.