Gouverneur Aarnoud van Heemstra (staand in donker pak) met een gezelschap bij treinwagons op weg naar de Maäboberg in Suriname Possibly 1923 - 1927

This photograph shows Gouverneur Aarnoud van Heemstra and his company by train wagons, captured by Augusta Curiel in Suriname. Look at how the light falls evenly across the figures, creating a soft, almost dreamy atmosphere, and how that relates to the act of recording a specific moment and place. You can almost feel the sun. The texture is smooth, almost velvety, which gives the image a timeless quality. The details, like the clothing and the train, are captured with precision, but there's also a looseness to the composition that makes it feel spontaneous and alive. There's something very modern about the informality here. Curiel's work reminds me of early photographers like Julia Margaret Cameron, who also used photography to capture a sense of intimacy and emotion. There's a connection there, in the way both artists embraced the medium's potential for ambiguity and personal expression.