Recreatiehut van de arbeiders op plantage Accaribo te Suriname 1916 - 1930

Theodoor Brouwers made this photograph of a recreation hut for plantation workers in Suriname. It's a modest little print. The sepia tone lends it an antique feel, which I suppose it is, but you can almost feel the humid air hanging in the balance. What strikes me most is the texture. Look at the way the thatched roof creates this incredible, almost chaotic surface. Each strand seems to bristle with its own energy. But then, step back, and it all comes together into a cohesive whole. It's like a bunch of individuals making up a community – each unique, but all part of something bigger. I find myself wondering about the people who spent time in this hut. Did they find solace here? Did they laugh, share stories, and find a moment's peace? I guess art doesn't always have to shout. Sometimes, it whispers. Think of Bernd and Hilla Becher, and their photographic series of industrial buildings, also black and white, but with a very different sensibility, austere and precise. I like it when artists are in conversation with each other, across time and space.