Paul, Lucie en David Sandel en Albert Glaser bij een tennispartij, Tandjong Poera, Langkat, Sumatra c. 1900

Curator: This photograph, titled "Paul, Lucie en David Sandel en Albert Glaser bij een tennispartij, Tandjong Poera, Langkat, Sumatra", captures a tennis match around 1900 in Sumatra. The image, created by Heinrich Ernst & Co, presents an interesting snapshot of colonial life. Editor: It's strikingly still, almost staged. The hazy sepia tone lends it an air of nostalgia, yet there's something undeniably unsettling about the composition and the way the figures are positioned. Curator: Absolutely. Consider the colonial context. Tennis, itself a product of European leisure, is here performed on land extracted and cultivated for resource exploitation. Look at how they’re all dressed, pristine whites contrasting starkly with the landscape. Editor: Precisely. These immaculate white linens serve as stark evidence of colonial commodity chains and their accompanying labor conditions. You cannot help but consider that this immaculate court and finery depend on a system of exploitation. Who constructed it, and under what duress? Curator: Furthermore, notice how the figures are grouped. The clear segregation speaks volumes about racial and social hierarchies. This isn't merely a snapshot of a tennis game, but a careful construction of power relations. The gaze, the positioning...it all underscores who is participating and who is observing. Editor: And the material realities of the photograph itself must be considered. The process involved is itself steeped in colonial appropriation. A heavy glass plate would be imported. The very chemicals that constitute the photograph would have made their way from elsewhere, contributing to a larger story of trade, extraction, and impact. Curator: It's a confluence of portraiture, landscape, and genre scene all filtered through the lens, literally and figuratively, of colonial power. And these types of photos are rarely encountered on their own; understanding their provenance by looking at the studio's archives will provide a more detailed story regarding power structures during that time. Editor: It is also a compelling argument for tracing every artifact, from canvas to pigment to emulsion. Each is intertwined with histories of social hierarchy. By closely examining the conditions under which artwork comes into existence, we begin to better assess a past often deliberately concealed behind pretty scenes.