Portret van een jongen en een baby in Madjene op Celebes 1921

This is a photograph made by Klaas Kleiterp, titled "Portret van een jongen en een baby in Madjene op Celebes". The composition is structured around a table, draped with a patterned cloth, where a baby lies beneath a light-colored blanket. Behind the table, a young boy stands, his gaze directed forward, creating a sense of direct engagement. The image is rendered in monochrome. Note the textures achieved by the wicker chair and the woven fabric of the tablecloth. Structurally, the photograph presents a study in contrasts: the soft, rounded forms of the children against the geometric pattern of the cloth. The sharp focus on the children and the soft focus on the background suggests a hierarchy of importance. The backdrop offers only subtle hints of the external environment and allows the children to come forward. This arrangement invites questions about how the image participates in broader cultural narratives of representation, identity, and perhaps colonialism. Photography is always an interpretation of reality.