Weg met haarspeldbochten tussen Paja Kombo en Bangkinan op Sumatra c. 1914 - 1917

Curator: Ah, yes, here we have "Weg met haarspeldbochten tussen Paja Kombo en Bangkinan op Sumatra" or "Away with hairpin bends between Paja Kombo and Bangkinan in Sumatra," a photograph by Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis, taken sometime between 1914 and 1917. Editor: It's an arresting image, immediately evocative of a humid, isolated world. The monochrome palette creates such a strong atmosphere. You can almost smell the earth after a downpour. Curator: Absolutely, there’s an intriguing interplay between the ordered geometry of the road and the chaotic abundance of nature. This photograph exemplifies pictorialism; notice the soft focus, imbuing the landscape with an almost painterly quality. What’s interesting here is its simultaneous connection to the visual language of realism. Editor: Right, I see that balance, and I suppose, a kind of romantic documentation of the human hand on the natural world, there's almost a gentle quality to the road snaking through this landscape, I can imagine the construction effort! One imagines, looking at this winding route, just what sort of person this road was designed to support. Curator: Precisely! Infrastructure projects of this era in colonial contexts often reveal power dynamics, of exploiting resources and connecting distant regions. Think of the resources required and those benefitting from easier access. These developments invariably alter pre-existing environments, disrupting traditional ways of life. The photograph functions as evidence and propaganda of progress. Editor: So the image isn't merely an aesthetic document, it has, as all landscape art has, some embedded narrative. What the artist frames, what the editor sees. A loaded image. I'll certainly linger here, contemplating what "progress" means in such a context. Thank you for shining some light onto the frame! Curator: A photograph of its time; a visual reminder that what we perceive as objective is often deeply embedded within networks of history. Thank you!