Stafofficieren onderweg in Batavia 1903

This is 'Staff Officers on the Road in Batavia', a stereograph made by Robert Julius Boers. It’s a fascinating document, almost like a sketch, a way of seeing that’s both immediate and constructed. The way the scene is rendered in monochrome tones, gives it a dreamy, ethereal quality. Look at the layering of figures and the subtle shifts in focus; it's like the artist is sifting through the scene, trying to capture a fleeting moment. The sepia tones create a soft, diffused light. The composition is dense, with figures and carriages overlapping, yet there’s a strange clarity to the overall image. Notice the textures; the rough bark of the trees, the fine details of the uniforms, even the way the light filters through the leaves. It reminds me of Eugène Atget, the way he documented Paris at the turn of the century. Both artists share an interest in capturing the everyday, in finding beauty in the ordinary. Art’s like that, an ongoing conversation, a way of seeing and making sense of the world, one image at a time.