Hospitaal en kampen te Fosibergi 1900 - 1913

Augusta Curiel’s “Hospitaal en kampen te Fosibergi” is a photograph, and it’s got this really interesting silvery tone, almost like a dream. The light and shadows are doing all the work here, like a black and white movie where everything's about mood. What grabs me is the way the buildings are nestled into the jungle. It’s like they’re trying to become part of the landscape, but they’re also so clearly imposed on it. The texture of the trees against the smooth, almost too-clean lines of the buildings is a real push and pull. The train tracks, in particular, cutting a strict line through the scene, they are so deliberate! It reminds me of some of the colonial landscapes by artists like Albert Eckhout, who were busy trying to make sense of a new world. Only here, Curiel isn’t just documenting, she’s showing us something about how we see and change the places we inhabit. Art is like that, always in conversation, always asking questions.