Tinmijn te Merawang 1900 - 1922

This is a stereograph of the Tin Mine at Merawang, made by Robert Julius Boers. Looking at the image, I’m imagining Boers setting up his camera, trying to get the light just right to capture the scene, maybe thinking about how to frame the workers against the landscape. The photograph feels muted, almost ghostly, which gives it a timeless quality. I wonder what it was like to be there, at that moment, witnessing this intersection of industry and nature. Was he trying to document the mine itself or the people working there? Or was he just drawn to the shapes and the light, the way the scene composed itself before his eyes? The textures are fascinating—the roughness of the terrain, the delicate foliage, the figures. Boers seems to be in conversation with other artists and photographers, riffing on ideas, pushing boundaries, and seeing the world in new ways. There is something very special about these kinds of visual exchanges. Each artist leaves a mark, like a trail of breadcrumbs, leading us to new ways of seeing and experiencing.