Werknemers in een verpakkingsloods van suikerfabriek Boedoeran in Sidoarjo op Java c. 1925 - 1930

This photograph by Isken pictures workers in a packing shed at the Boedoeran sugar factory in Sidoarjo, Java. I'm immediately thinking about the making of this image, and the decisions involved. The artist captures so many workers. I'm thinking about what the light must have been like that day, and the atmosphere of a busy factory. The artist captures so many full sacks, piled high. I love the way that, while showing the whole scene, the artist has paid attention to the detail. There’s a lovely tension in the image, and I find my eyes jumping from the workers to the product they are producing. This reminds me of other artists like Allan Sekula whose conceptual photography documents the social and economic conditions of labor and capital. Images like this make me think about art history as an ongoing conversation – all artists draw inspiration from each other, building on past ideas and reinterpreting them in new ways. It's a kind of embodied expression, open to endless interpretations.