Lokale arbeiders en een Europeaan bij de aanleg van een tunnel in de buurt van Sawahlunto 1891 - 1912

This photograph by Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis captures local workers and a European overseeing tunnel construction near Sawahlunto. Look at the way the tunnel’s entrance is framed by the heavy earth around it, like a mouth in the landscape. The photograph isn’t just showing us a place; it’s revealing a whole process of transformation. The texture of the soil, the way it’s been dug and shaped, tells a story of labor and industry. The contrast between the cool, dark tunnel and the bright, exposed earth is really striking. It makes you think about what’s hidden beneath the surface, both literally in terms of the tunnel, and figuratively in terms of the colonial project itself. It’s a scene reminiscent of other industrial-age photos, but Nieuwenhuis’s work has a starkness that reminds me of Walker Evans in its directness. Art always echoes, always answers back.