Akkers en rubberbomen op Leidong West en Kanopan Oeloe, 1931 1931

These four silver gelatin prints from 1931, by an anonymous artist, capture landscapes of fields and rubber trees, and the eye travels between them. I’m drawn to the way the greyscale flattens the top two images into a dense field of marks, each one distinct yet merging into the whole. The texture is almost palpable, like Braille for the eyes, each bump telling a different story. The bottom two images feel more open, the verticality of the slender trees a counterpoint to the horizontal weight of the fields. Look at the way the trees are placed within the frame, their repetition creates a rhythm, a pulse that enlivens the composition. This reminds me of the photography of Karl Blossfeldt, who catalogued plants with such precision and beauty. There’s a similar attention to form here, a celebration of the natural world, even in its cultivated state. Art is a conversation across time. It’s about seeing and feeling, not just knowing.