Aanleg van een rubberplantage van de Deli Maatschappij bij Soengei Tassik op Sumatra c. 1900 - 1920

This photograph, "Aanleg van een rubberplantage van de Deli Maatschappij bij Soengei Tassik op Sumatra", of a rubber plantation being established, probably documents some dark moment from long ago. The photograph is small, and the grayscale enforces a sense of something muted and incomplete. This image feels like a drawing, with an emphasis on tonal variation. It's almost like a drypoint print, with the scratched marks and the heavy shadow lines, but it’s a photograph. I get the sense of light reflecting off the cleared land, contrasting with the looming, untouched forest in the background. The texture of the land is rough, broken up by the stumps and scars of what was there before, like a fresh canvas ready for a new image. I’m reminded of some of Anselm Kiefer’s landscapes, although they come from completely different contexts. What links them is how each artist uses texture and tonal range to convey a story about time, labor, and the transformation of the landscape. This piece is an unromantic view of human impact and the constant negotiation between nature and human industry, which is a conversation that echoes through art history.