Sáfúboom op een plantage te Equateurville 1896

This photograph titled 'Sáfúboom op een plantage te Equateurville' was taken by Franz Thonner. It evokes questions about the historical context of colonialism and its impact on both the land and the people of Equateurville, now part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. During Thonner’s time, European powers were deeply invested in exploiting African resources, often through brutal means. Plantations were not just places of agricultural production; they were sites of forced labor, dispossession, and cultural erasure. The photograph makes one think about the power dynamics at play in the region. It reminds us that for every image produced, there are countless untold stories of those who suffered.