Pagina 154 en 155 van fotoboek van de Algemeene Vereeniging van Rubberplanters ter Oostkust van Sumatra (A.V.R.O.S.) c. 1924 - 1925

This is pages 154 and 155 from a photography book by J.W. Meyster. The photographic image is this dense mass of foliage, row upon row, so dark it almost vibrates off the page. Then on the other side, we have a block of text in a typeface that's probably older than I am, just as dense and dark as the picture. What I find fascinating is the way the photo almost looks like a painting. It's not crisp or clear, but rather a kind of mushy impression, a landscape conjured through repetition. It's like Meyster has constructed a field through a kind of printing process, not unlike the way I layer paint. The text repeats this theme. Think about what it means to cultivate something, whether it's a rubber plantation or a work of art. The tension between control and chaos, intention and accident, is something that all artists deal with, including Meyster. It's like a conversation across time, a constant pushing and pulling, a give and take.