Terra cotta group holding two itiphallic figures and two female figures with child. Karta Wangungan, Kuningan district, West Java province, Possibly 1863 - 1864

This photograph by Isidore Kinsbergen captures a terra cotta group in Karta Wangungan, West Java. Kinsbergen, a Dutch photographer, documented the Dutch East Indies in the late 19th century. The group features two figures with exposed phalluses and two women holding children. The phallic figures might relate to fertility or power, while the women embody nurturance, so what are we to make of their juxtaposition? Are we meant to understand these figures as types, in some way representative of society? The figures have a raw, almost crude, quality. This may be a reflection of the available tools, or perhaps the artist sought to challenge traditional idealized representations, instead capturing something more visceral. The photograph itself, taken by a colonial photographer, invites us to consider the power dynamics inherent in the act of representation, of whose stories get told and how. The photograph serves not just as an aesthetic object, but as a cultural artifact, laden with the complexities of identity.