Kooplui op een pasar. 1900 - 1935

Neville Keasberry’s photograph, "Kooplui op een pasar," captures a market scene, likely in Java. It’s a stereoscopic image, creating a kind of 3D effect when viewed through a special device, and you know, that alone is kind of amazing. The tones are sepia, giving it that antique feel, and the details, though small, are sharp. Look at the textures: the rough, thatched roof of the stalls, the clothes hanging, the faces of the vendors. It’s all about the play of light and shadow, the way the camera captures the realness of the moment. My eye keeps going to the figure seated in the foreground, his posture so relaxed, so natural. You get a sense of the everyday rhythm of life. It makes me think of Atget’s photographs of Paris, capturing the feel of a place through its ordinary moments. It’s this kind of quiet observation that makes you stop and see the world in a new way.