Portret van Surinaamse vrouw 1900 - 1910

Editor: Here we have "Portret van Surinaamse vrouw", a gelatin silver print from sometime between 1900 and 1910, created by C. Kersten & Co. The photograph has such an immediate, grounded feel... what resonates most with you when you look at it? Curator: It whispers stories, doesn’t it? The cool formality, juxtaposed with the very clear, direct gaze of the sitter… it pulls me right in. I see a carefully constructed image, designed to convey something very specific. The details fascinate me – the textures of the fabric, the intricate braiding, the solidity of the balustrade. Does it feel like a record, or something more staged, to you? Editor: Definitely feels a bit staged, although there’s a realness there that complicates it. Is it possible the staging is revealing something else about the subject and time period? Curator: Absolutely. Photography of this era was often used, well, exploited, to document and categorize different cultures, a lens often clouded by colonial perspectives. I find myself wondering what agency this woman had in her own portrayal. It makes me consider how her identity was being shaped and perhaps controlled by those external gazes, those ideas of otherness. Editor: So the act of documenting also becomes an act of shaping identity. Curator: Precisely. It’s like looking into a mirror that distorts as much as it reflects. What do you make of her stance? Leaning against that European balustrade… Editor: It's a very physical manifestation of the tensions you're talking about, actually. There's a quiet resistance, even in just how she carries herself. This has certainly given me much to think about! Curator: And for me, too. The photograph feels like a starting point, not an ending.