Candi Semar, general view with some villagers sitting at the entrance (east). Possibly 1864 - 1867

This photograph of Candi Semar was taken by Isidore Kinsbergen, probably in the late 19th century, using a process involving silver salts on a glass plate. The result is a richly detailed image, capturing not only the structure but also the people who inhabit its surroundings. What strikes me is the contrast between the enduring monumentality of the Candi, made of precisely cut stone blocks, and the ephemeral nature of the photographic medium. The Candi’s construction would have involved many hands – quarrymen, masons, laborers – all contributing to a collective effort across generations. Kinsbergen’s photograph, by contrast, captures a single moment in time, dependent on the specific skills of the photographer and the chemical processes he employed. This image invites us to consider the relationship between labor, time, and representation. The Candi embodies the accumulated work of many individuals, while the photograph distills this history into a single, reproducible image, raising questions about how we value different forms of making and their cultural significance.