Watervoorziening op Padang Halaban, 1937 Possibly 1937

Shibaya made this photographic print titled Watervoorziening op Padang Halaban in 1937. The photo looks like a landscape, maybe, but there's something strange about the almost complete lack of detail. It feels like looking into a mirror, but the reflection is somehow broken or incomplete. I notice the dark shadows cast by the thick foliage and how they seem to almost merge into the water, creating a kind of mirroring effect. The surface of the photo isn't smooth, it's got a visible grain, and a soft texture that contrasts with the sharpness of the printed details. You get the impression that something exists beyond its edges that isn't seen, that this is a photo of a larger, much more confusing ecosystem. This print reminds me of the work of some of the early modernist photographers who were playing with similar themes, like Alfred Stieglitz. Like them, Shibaya isn't just showing us a scene, he's exploring the very nature of seeing and capturing the world around us. It's like a reminder that art is always a conversation, an ongoing dialogue between artists and their ideas across time.