Kinaonderneming Daradjat 1935

Curator: Welcome. Let’s turn our attention to “Kinaonderneming Daradjat,” a gelatin silver print dating to 1935. Editor: The mood of this photograph strikes me immediately as rather austere. There's a directness in the composition, with its stark contrasts between the industrial building and the surrounding landscape. Curator: Indeed. It's a remarkable study in contrasts. The photograph is sharply divided. We have the geometric lines of the building on one side, then, opposing those strict lines, we see the organic forms of nature in the background. The chimney piercing the sky—a vertical accent to the block-like building—further accentuates this push-and-pull between industrial aspiration and the grounded reality of the natural world. Editor: Chimneys frequently symbolize human ambition. The factory is dedicated to “Kina,” which speaks volumes to our culturally conditioned assumptions, in that “Kina” refers to quinine cultivation in colonial Indonesia. The building could stand as a metaphor for exploitation and the imposition of external control. It seems charged with an entire complex, morally fraught system of relations. Curator: Absolutely, the composition directs our eye along very definite planes: a clear delineation of man-made and the Earth's own making. Also note how the staircase is almost centrally placed, drawing us up—symbolically and structurally—into the industrial narrative. Editor: But the image refrains from either romanticizing or entirely condemning what it represents. Even visually, the stark tones lend a gravity, a sense of seriousness and responsibility to the narrative, whatever moral implications we apply. Curator: Consider, also, the light. The photographic conditions—those tonal qualities—enhance the objectivity. The soft gradations of light across the industrial edifice create a play, too, giving us an understanding that despite its brutal utility, it is an object created under certain historical conditions. It isn't out of time. Editor: The anonymous maker encourages our close scrutiny through this calibrated play of dark and light. What emerges in this play is that the photographic medium acts as a potent reminder of power dynamics during this era in colonial settings. A factory belching fumes stands in tension against the exploitation of people and land to generate materials we depend on, and that reality feels ever relevant today. Curator: I agree. The tensions and balances that mark this gelatin silver print remain with you.