Rede van de Emmahaven in Padang op Sumatra 1891 - 1912

Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis made this image of Emma Harbour in Padang, Sumatra. The sepia tones in the image create a sense of nostalgia and distance, like a memory fading at the edges. I think of the artist in the humidity of Sumatra, carefully composing the shot, framing the industrial against the natural, the man-made port against the hills in the distance. What was he thinking as he considered the scale of the project? The railway tracks lead our eye toward the ships, symbols of trade, travel, and the colonial reach. Maybe he felt like an outsider in that moment, recording this scene with curiosity and some trepidation. It reminds me of other painters who documented industrial growth, like the Bechers, and I feel the exchange of ideas through time. I am sure they would have had a lot to say to one another. In the end, we are all in conversation and exchange, riffing on one another’s ideas.