Pagina 70 van fotoboek van de Algemeene Vereeniging van Rubberplanters ter Oostkust van Sumatra (A.V.R.O.S.) c. 1924 - 1925

Editor: This photograph, “Page 70 from the photo album of the General Association of Rubber Planters on the East Coast of Sumatra," taken around 1924 or 1925 by J.W. Meyster, shows what looks like a rubber processing plant. It's incredibly industrial. What do you make of it? Curator: Immediately, I'm drawn to the means of production embedded within this image. Consider the raw materials involved in creating this scene: the timber of the building itself, likely sourced directly from the landscape, and the rubber – its extraction and processing fueling a global market. This photograph, ostensibly documenting progress, is actually documenting intense labour practices and material exploitation. Editor: So, the content itself—the rubber processing plant—highlights the importance of materials? Curator: Precisely. Look at the form itself. It is photography—the product of chemical processes and industrial machinery. The photo is one of many in a photo *album,* right? That suggests this image, its reproduction, circulation, and its preservation over time, all are material processes with social implications. How might this album have been used, and who was its intended audience? Editor: Presumably to showcase the productivity of the plantations and to attract investors or laborers? Curator: Exactly. Therefore, we should acknowledge how its original function serves as a testament to labor, resource consumption, and even perhaps to a particular social class at the time. The photomontage effect hints that it’s not just a straightforward document, but a constructed narrative. Editor: It makes you realize the sheer scale of the operation, the labor involved, and the resources being consumed to produce rubber. I hadn’t considered how the *image* itself played a role in this economic machine. Curator: Absolutely. By analyzing the materiality of both the subject and the medium, we get a deeper understanding of the economic and social forces at play. The making of rubber and the making of this photograph are inextricably linked.