Tine Kleiterp-Vermeulen en haar kinderen Klaas en Tiny op een grasveld in Madje op Celebes 1922 - 1923

Curator: This evocative photograph, taken sometime between 1922 and 1923, presents Tine Kleiterp-Vermeulen with her children, Klaas and Tiny, in Madje, Celebes. It's a window into a world long past. Editor: It feels intimate, doesn’t it? Almost like a stolen moment rather than a posed portrait. The mother’s dress, the children's clothes—they all suggest a story waiting to be unpacked about colonial life, privilege, and familial bonds in that period. Curator: The act of capturing this domestic scene, seemingly ordinary, is interesting, isn't it? Notice the details: the almost ghostly rabbit toy, the square object that little Klaas holds... perhaps symbolic reminders of home amidst a life lived far away. The symbolic weight of everyday items... Editor: Indeed. And think about the colonial context. The seemingly simple act of taking a family photograph becomes an act laden with power dynamics. It visualizes the presence of a colonizing family on Celebes, implicitly underscoring notions of visibility and belonging within a constructed landscape. Where were the local photographers documenting indigenous life? What perspective is missing here? Curator: That absence you speak of shapes our reading of the photograph, without a doubt. In terms of cultural memory, these photographic practices reflect the colonizers and their experience as they want it remembered, even to themselves, overshadowing or displacing local voices. I believe in these private, tender moments are also markers of a bigger and shared identity, not limited to colonial stories, perhaps the shared experience of motherhood is being subtly underscored through its symbol of eternal love and protection. Editor: While I acknowledge that the image presents a maternal scene, the broader context insists we remain critical. Considering that perspective, it invites viewers to examine our own complicity as present-day viewers inheriting these visual archives. Curator: I understand your point about questioning inherent biases, the photograph retains the human aspect of what survives. I am mostly touched by the image, with the emotional content that transcends political and cultural landscapes; regardless of the socio-political implications of what it represented at that moment, it invites us to share an eternal sense of belonging with family, and a home in ourselves, especially in times of estrangement. Editor: Yes, perhaps this is a space for reflecting on the complex, sometimes contradictory, layers of meaning contained within such seemingly simple images.