Station Soerabaia 1880 - 1888

Curator: This is “Station Soerabaia,” a photograph dating from around 1880-1888, taken by Herman Salzwedel. The Rijksmuseum holds this fascinating print. What’s your initial take? Editor: Hmm, sepia tones always give a sense of faded grandeur. There's a strange tranquility in the composition; all those converging tracks, promising journeys, yet it feels… empty, somehow? Like a stage set waiting for actors who never arrive. Curator: I see what you mean about tranquility. These orientalist photographs often aimed to capture an "exotic" stillness, framing non-Western spaces as untouched and timeless. Look how Salzwedel uses leading lines – the train tracks, especially – to guide the eye. This creates a deliberate sense of order and control, projecting a certain imperial gaze onto the scene. Editor: Right, control…and nostalgia, maybe? Even then, it was likely tinged with the bittersweet realization that things were changing rapidly. You get hints of japonisme in the flat perspective, which adds a graphic feel to an otherwise realist image. A lovely, melancholy scene. Curator: Absolutely. Japonisme was fashionable at the time, blending with colonialist viewpoints, making the foreign familiar. Notice the architectural style; are those European design elements, mixed with local adaptation in that roofing style? These images carried not just data, but messages. The very idea of capturing and then circulating it, that's powerful, that is cultural memory itself in motion. Editor: Fascinating! To imagine folks seeing this back in Europe… Soerabaia transformed from a far-off place to a romantic destination, or maybe just fuel for armchair wanderlust. And now here *we* are, a century and a half later, looking *back* at their view. Curator: Indeed. It serves as a powerful reminder that images are never neutral, always filtered through layers of perception and power. Editor: It also speaks to the relentless human fascination with capturing moments, no matter how fleeting they might be. Thanks for pointing that out! Curator: My pleasure. Thank you for sharing that interesting perspective.