Gebouwen in bivak Lampahan 1903 - 1913

This photograph titled 'Gebouwen in bivak Lampahan' and made by an anonymous artist captures a scene with these little hut-like buildings. It is made with a muted palette of browns, tans, and grays. I am interested in the texture of the thatched roofs, how they seem to bristle outwards from the structure. It makes me think about how artists work, layering up textures, building things up from the inside out. You can imagine the physical act of layering each piece of straw, so like a painter building up paint on the surface of a canvas. The fence line on the left seems to recede towards the horizon, drawing our eye into the distance. It makes you wonder what is beyond the edge of the frame. I also think of the stark compositions by someone like Agnes Martin when I look at the fence line. Photographs like this, and paintings too, are just a beginning. They don't have fixed meanings. We can all bring our own experiences to them.