Portret van een onbekende vrouw met twee dochters before 1897

This image is a photograph by Christiaan Johan Neeb portraying an unknown woman with her two daughters. The photograph’s materiality is tied to the colonial context in which it was produced, and would have involved a complex interplay of labor, resources, and technology. From the production of photographic paper and chemicals, to the operation of the camera and the development of the image, each step would have relied on skilled labor and industrial processes that connected local realities to global networks of trade and exchange. Notice the contrast between the constructed background and the subjects themselves; the thatched roof of a simple dwelling juxtaposed with the patterned textiles worn by the woman and her daughters. Through photography, the image immortalizes a moment in time, a lasting record of labor and life. Understanding the photograph involves acknowledging the social, economic, and technological forces that shape both its production and its representation.