Kokospalm op plantage Morgenstond 1917

Justus Gonggrijp made this photograph of a coconut palm on the Morgenstond plantation, but when exactly, we don't know! It's mostly shades of gray, and the composition is striking. The palm tree dominates, heavy with coconuts, and there's this wild growth beneath. You can almost feel the humidity. I wonder what Gonggrijp was thinking, framing the shot this way. Was it about the abundance of the plantation? Or maybe the contrast between the managed crop and the unruly landscape? I like the way the leaves reach out, almost like the strokes in a painting, and how they convey a kind of dreamy atmosphere, all in monochrome. I imagine artists like Charles Marville or Eugène Atget would have appreciated the tonality and texture. It feels like a moment captured, but it also speaks to something timeless.