Leprozenkolonie Danaradja: familiefoto's 1922

These family photos of the Leprozenkolonie Danaradja are from an unknown date, made by an anonymous photographer. The tones feel dreamy and sepia-tinged, as if the colours are leaching away, leaving a memory. It strikes me how this is part of the process of image-making, an index of time, of what is retained and what is lost. I love the way these images are presented: not pristine or precious, but held loosely in place. They are almost falling away from the mounting card, like a set of casual snapshots, but loaded with meaning. There’s something about the grainy surface that feels tactile. These aren’t just images; they’re physical objects with a history, like the work of Christian Boltanski. Each mark, each scratch, tells a story. The imperfections and ambiguities are what make it so compelling. Art, like memory, is never fixed.