Grote villa in Simpangampat in aanbouw 1914 - 1919

This photograph, "Grote villa in Simpangampat in aanbouw," captures a building under construction, its skeletal structure exposed, somewhere perhaps in the Dutch East Indies. It’s a work of documentation, and art. The anonymous photographer reveals their process through stark contrasts. The rough, almost chaotic, scaffolding and unfinished roof juxtapose against the solid, geometric brickwork below. Look at that unfinished roof, a web of dark lines against the pale sky, it looks like a drawing. The texture of the image is almost tactile, you can almost feel the roughness of the wood. It reminds me of a Cy Twombly painting, where the visible layers of mark-making reveal the artistic process. Similarly, here, the unfinished state is the subject. The photo becomes a meditation on the idea of progress. It is as much about the present as it is about the future, an ongoing conversation about time and place.