Groepsportret van Europeanen in de tropen, gekleed in het wit. c. 1910

This is a photograph, or perhaps multiple photographs collaged together, by Frits Freerks Fontein Fz. of a group portrait of Europeans dressed in white. I'm looking at this image and thinking about how a photograph can offer a window into the past but also obscure. It’s a frozen moment, carefully arranged, so I'm trying to look beyond the surface. How staged are these figures? What were they thinking? What were their lives like in the tropics? It’s all in the sepia tones, so how does that flatten the image out while adding a layer of nostalgia? It's got me thinking, too, about the power dynamics at play here. It’s a picture that speaks volumes about colonialism, about looking, about power, and about who gets to tell the story. What is so interesting about photography is that it is always in conversation with painting and with history. Fontein is part of a much larger conversation and exchange of ideas across time, that will continue to inspire future image-makers and viewers.