Anton met drie Marrons 1903 - 1910

Hendrik Doijer made this photograph of Anton and three Marrons some time around the turn of the century. The monochrome palette gives it a timeless feel, like a memory half-remembered. There's a striking contrast in textures; the smoothness of the boy's sailor suit against the rough-hewn planks they're standing on. That central figure holding the bow? The lines of the bow are so precise and purposeful, they almost vibrate with intention, especially when set against the slightly out-of-focus foliage behind. Look at the way the light catches the boy’s face. It’s as if he knows he is being looked at, and he knows that this picture will have many meanings depending on who is looking. Like the work of Jeff Wall, this photograph suggests that the image is a construction that we are complicit in.