Rij van Indonesische werknemers voor een van de fabrieksgebouwen. c. 1903

This photograph, "Rij van Indonesische werknemers voor een van de fabrieksgebouwen" was taken in 1910 by Frits Freerks Fontein Fz. The sepia tones give the scene an antiquated feel, like looking through a faded memory. You can almost feel the humidity in the air, the weight of the historical context. Fontein's use of light and shadow is striking; it really draws the eye across the image. The way the light filters through the trees, creating patterns on the building and ground, makes the scene feel very alive. The soft focus suggests the passage of time, but it also leaves space for our imagination to fill in the details. It's like a snapshot of a moment, a fleeting glimpse into the lives of these workers and into the colonial past. Artists like Gerhard Richter, who blur and obscure their images, also ask questions about the nature of seeing and memory, about history and representation.