Bauxietwinning in Moengo en rit door de jungle 1927 - 1931

This photographic album page presents two gelatin silver prints that portray industry in Suriname. Look at the images closely, imagine the artist, maybe a technician or documentarian, finding their shot in a humid jungle climate. The top image depicts a train laden with minerals, set against a horizon punctuated by a water tower – it’s a constructed landscape in the process of becoming. Imagine the artist considering the composition, how to align the industrial foreground with the open sky and distant structure. The bottom image depicts workers amidst cut trees. Both images share a textural, grainy quality, a detail probably amplified through the printing process, and which speaks to the material conditions of their making. The artist’s sensibility shines through, showing us the way in which the human and non-human intersect. It’s about bearing witness, and in the process, creating a new way of seeing and feeling.