Interieur van een pakhuis van de Tanjong Pagar Dock Co. Ltd. in Singapore before 1905

This photograph by G.R. Lambert & Co. shows the interior of a warehouse belonging to the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company in Singapore. While undated, the image speaks volumes about Singapore's colonial economy. The photograph's subject is not a picturesque landscape or grand architecture, but a storage facility, highlighting the economic priorities of the time. The Tanjong Pagar Dock Company was a key player in Singapore's bustling port, central to the British Empire's trade network in Southeast Asia. The photograph shows bales of goods, likely rubber or spices that reflect the raw materials extracted from the region under colonial rule. Photographs like these, often commissioned by colonial authorities or companies, served as both documentation and promotion, projecting an image of progress and order while obscuring the exploitative practices of colonialism. Historical archives, company records, and postcolonial studies can provide further insights into the social and economic realities of Singapore during this period. Art, ultimately, offers an invaluable window into understanding our world.