Chinese contractarbeiders sorteren tabaksbladeren in een fermenteerschuur, Sumatra c. 1900 - 1915

This photograph by Carl J. Kleingrothe captures Chinese contract workers sorting tobacco leaves in Sumatra. My eye is drawn to the repetitive nature of the work. I can imagine the artist thinking about how to frame the vastness of the building and how to convey the sense of the workers toiling in this space. It's like one continuous, never-ending activity. The workers are all engaged in the same action, yet each one is also an individual with their own thoughts and feelings. I wonder what it was like for Kleingrothe to photograph this scene. Did he feel a sense of responsibility to document the workers' lives? Did he consider his own role in the colonial system that exploited their labor? Looking at a photograph is different from painting a photograph. But it's not unrelated. Artists inspire each other all the time, even across different media. We're all just trying to make sense of the world in our own way.