Het laboratorium van de fabriek op Madura c. 1910

Frits Freerks Fontein Fz. captured this photo of a factory laboratory in Madura using a sepia tone film which gives everything a warm, brown hue. It's like stepping back in time. I can imagine Fontein setting up his camera, carefully framing the scene, waiting for the right light to capture the essence of this workspace. It must have been fascinating for him to be able to enter into this space and capture the reality of it. Did he feel like an intruder? Look how the glass objects catch the light and throw little shadows around. There's a kind of beauty in the everyday, don’t you think? Even in a place dedicated to science and industry, there’s poetry to be found. It connects to the images I make: everyday life, the poetics of places. Photography, like painting, is an act of seeing and interpreting. Fontein has offered us his view of this factory, just as I offer mine through brushstrokes. And maybe, just maybe, our works can spark new ways of seeing the world around us.