Koffieaanplant verwoest door modderstroom c. 1900 - 1935

This stereoscopic photograph, "Koffieaanplant verwoest door modderstroom" (Coffee Plantation Devastated by Mudslide), was taken by Neville Keasberry sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century. I can imagine Keasberry setting up his camera in the aftermath, trying to capture the sheer devastation. It's not just about documenting; it's about feeling the loss, the uprootedness. Maybe he was thinking about the people who depended on this land, their livelihoods washed away with the mud. There's a starkness in the grayscale that strips away any romanticism. The textures of the broken trees and churned earth are almost tactile. You can feel the weight of the mud, the violence of the natural world. It reminds me of some of the early landscape photographers, like Carleton Watkins, who also captured scenes of dramatic natural upheaval. We see through their eyes the vulnerability of human endeavors against the backdrop of nature's power.