Woonhuis 1886

This albumen print of a house, likely made in the late nineteenth century, was created by Kassian Céphas, a Javanese photographer working in the Dutch East Indies. Here, Céphas depicts a "Woonhuis", a type of dwelling that emerged during the colonial period. The image creates meaning through its depiction of social space, as a well-tended garden and the large veranda of this particular house evoke the lifestyle of the European elite in Java. The very act of photographing such a building also speaks to the photographer’s position within that society and the development of the Indies as a site of cultural exchange. Understanding this photograph requires that we consult historical records from the colonial era and, perhaps more importantly, recent postcolonial studies. It provides a visual representation of the complex social structures that shaped artistic production in the Dutch East Indies.