Exterieur van een bungalow van de Deli Maatschappij in Brastagi op Sumatra c. 1900 - 1920

Curator: This photograph, entitled "Exterior of a bungalow of the Deli Maatschappij in Brastagi on Sumatra," dates from somewhere around 1900 to 1920 and offers a glimpse into the colonial history of Indonesia. Editor: Wow, it has this dreamy, slightly melancholic feel. All those shades of grey create a certain distance. Almost as if the scene is veiled in memory. Curator: Exactly, and that distance is key. We have to remember the context: the Deli Maatschappij was a tobacco company, essentially a colonial enterprise extracting resources and labor. This bungalow would have been home to someone quite high up in that hierarchy. Editor: You're right, there's a darkness under that picturesque facade. That house on the hill, almost like a fairytale cottage… But the fairytales it tells aren't pretty. It's eerie to imagine lives lived within it, sustained by a system of oppression. Curator: Precisely. Think about who would have lived there, the power dynamics at play, the displacement and exploitation this represents for the local population. The idyllic landscape almost normalizes it. Editor: The lack of human figures in the frame is telling, too. It emphasizes this isolation, this detached viewpoint, like an outsider looking in – or down. Did the photographer make a deliberate artistic choice when framing it, or it's more about how it was casually shot to record a thing in possession? Curator: The composition might echo landscape painting traditions of the Hudson River School and, together with other orientalist tropes, further romanticizes and legitimizes colonial presence. Editor: It feels like a stage set for a story that never truly begins. Makes you want to rewrite the script, reclaim the narrative. Curator: This image speaks volumes about power, representation, and the complex layers of colonial history and how photography can often obfuscate uncomfortable truth, inviting us to critically examine our own gaze and assumptions. Editor: It reminds me that even pretty pictures can have some harsh stories to tell. It invites me to seek truth and rewrite what's acceptable.