Man bezig met het uitplanten van kiemplanten (bibit) op de onderneming Soengei Tassik op Sumatra c. 1900 - 1920

This black and white photograph, now at the Rijksmuseum, captures workers transplanting seedlings at the Soengei Tassik plantation in Sumatra. The artist, who remains anonymous, has composed the photograph with a strong sense of spatial arrangement. I can feel the weight of the bodies of the workers as they toil under the sun. I feel their stoicism and determination, the repetitive gestures that echo the endless rows of plants. I imagine that I can hear the quiet rustling of the leaves and the distant sounds of the plantation, maybe the low murmur of voices, the clinking of tools, and the rhythmic thud of the hoe breaking the soil. The high contrast heightens the emotional intensity of the photograph. Thinking about the artist, I wonder, what was it like to capture this scene? I like to think that the artist wanted to convey not just the physical act of transplanting seedlings, but the deeper connection between these people and the land.