Loodsen van een tinonderneming te Koba c. 1900 - 1920

This photograph shows a tin enterprise in Koba, and was likely taken in the late 19th or early 20th century. The image’s material qualities, its monochrome tonality and sharp focus, speak to the direct, documentary intention of the photographer, who is unfortunately anonymous. What do we see? Metal roofs, wood structures and walls made of woven material, arranged in an open-air industrial setting. The sheds provide shelter for the labor-intensive processes of tin production. The photograph is as much about labor and the built environment as it is about the tin itself. Notice the light reflecting off the corrugated metal roofing. The scene evokes both the exploitation of natural resources, and of human effort in the colonial context. The stark industrial aesthetic has its own austere beauty, yet this is inseparable from the extraction and production that it enabled. Understanding the photograph involves looking past the immediate subject matter, and considering the social context of its making.