Gezicht op het terrein rondom de administrateurswoning in Soengei-Roean, Sumatra c. 1890 - 1900

Curator: The photograph before us, created circa 1890-1900 by Heinrich Ernst & Co, is titled "Gezicht op het terrein rondom de administrateurswoning in Soengei-Roean, Sumatra"—or, "View of the grounds around the administrator's house in Soengei-Roean, Sumatra." Editor: The sepia tones create a sense of distance, but the ordered structure and lines give me the impression of this being a controlled environment. Curator: Indeed. It captures a colonial estate in Sumatra, reflecting a period marked by Dutch presence in Indonesia. We should really consider the landscape itself as a direct consequence of colonialism. The act of photographing a cleared area and administrator's residence reinforces notions of domination and ownership. The felling of trees is also a symbolic attack on nature. Editor: The clearing and the administrator’s dwelling dominate the entire field. There are patterns here. Palm trees offer soft shapes that repeat themselves along the horizon and that neatly punctuate the space. It's like looking into a formal garden in a domestic space. There's order here. Curator: Precisely! And what that aestheticized view elides is the labor—largely of local populations—that enabled that "order." Consider, too, that "orientalism," here is more than just an artistic style; it's an ideology manifested in the control and representation of land and people. Editor: But let’s turn back to these contrasts between the hard horizontals of the felled logs versus the soft arcs of the trees. Visually, they pull in opposite directions and create tension. Curator: Yes, tension—the inherent conflict between colonizer and colonized. The image performs power. It is not so much an innocent landscape, as a deliberate demonstration of power. Editor: I see the picture’s form as evidence that is used as propaganda. An idealized setting with hard boundaries! Curator: I agree. Images like this circulated to strengthen a certain ideology. Hopefully we've brought some nuance to seeing that today. Editor: This brief viewing exercise brings to light just how impactful these photographic structures can be when revealing the complexities within even the simplest image.