Maboegoesoe 1903 - 1910

Hendrik Doijer made this small photograph called 'Maboegoesoe', location and date unknown. The scene is a dense jungle-like landscape, which Doijer captures with all the greyscale tones a photograph can muster. It’s interesting how, even without color, you can practically feel the humidity and the thickness of the air. Look at the way the light filters through the canopy, how it catches the water. There’s a real sense of depth, but also a flatness created by the density of the foliage. It’s like the scene is both receding and pressing forward all at once. I'm reminded of 19th century painters like Henri Rousseau, another artist drawn to the exoticism of the jungle. Both of them embrace a kind of hyperrealism that feels almost dreamlike in its intensity. And, just like a painting, you can almost smell the earthiness of it all. Art, you know? It’s never just about what you see; it’s about what you feel, remember, and imagine.