Netta Bergsma en twee kleine kinderen spelend in een tuin in Brastagi 1926

This photograph, taken in Brastagi in April 1926 by an anonymous photographer, depicts Netta Bergsma with two young children playing in a garden. What might seem at first glance like a simple snapshot of colonial family life in the Dutch East Indies actually opens a window onto a complex network of social relations and hierarchies. The photograph presents an image of carefree leisure that depends on the infrastructures of colonialism. The presence of a lush garden suggests the exploitation of local resources for the benefit of the colonizers. And the absence of any local Indonesian people raises questions about the power dynamics that are at play even in a seemingly innocent scene. Historical analysis allows us to see the photograph not just as a personal memento but as a social document, and institutional archives can reveal much about the historical context in which this image was produced and circulated.