Gezicht op de Kali Mas in Surabaya 1876 - 1884

This albumen print depicts the Kali Mas River in Surabaya, and was made by Herman Salzwedel. The picture is rendered in tones of sepia, which are determined by the chemicals and processes that were available at the time. This emerging technology involved coating a sheet of paper with albumen, derived from egg whites, followed by a silver nitrate solution. It was then exposed to light through a negative. While the photograph presents itself as a neutral record, it’s important to consider the social context in which it was made. The Kali Mas River was a crucial site of trade and transportation in Surabaya, then a major port city in the Dutch East Indies. Salzwedel, as a European photographer, was recording a colonial landscape. By focusing on the technologies and labor involved in creating this image, and reflecting on the artist’s position, we can understand the photograph as not just a visual document, but as a cultural artifact, deeply embedded in the history of colonialism and trade.