Pagina 36 en 37 van fotoboek van de Algemeene Vereeniging van Rubberplanters ter Oostkust van Sumatra (A.V.R.O.S.) c. 1924 - 1925

These photographs by J.W. Meyster from a Sumatra rubber plantation company album are like windows into another world. What strikes me most is the way the light filters through the scene, almost flattening it. The sepia tones create a sense of distance, as if we’re peering into a memory, but it's also quite lovely. I can imagine Meyster setting up his camera, carefully composing each shot, maybe thinking about how to best represent the scale and labor of the rubber production. There's a stillness to these images, a sense of quiet observation. It reminds me a bit of early documentary photography, where the act of seeing and recording becomes a form of storytelling. What were his intentions? Even though these photographs are of a specific time and place, they tap into something universal about the human experience of work, land, and memory. It reminds me that art is always in conversation with the past, each artist building upon the work of those who came before, like a long, ongoing game of telephone.