Portret van Jean Baptiste Ka-Ja-Roe 1883 - 1884

Editor: Here we have "Portret van Jean Baptiste Ka-Ja-Roe," a photograph from 1883-1884 by Friedrich Carel Hisgen, currently residing here at the Rijksmuseum. It’s stark, almost clinical, focusing solely on the subject’s profile. What strikes you when you look at this, and how do you interpret this image? Curator: You know, sometimes I feel like an old photo booth in a dusty antique shop when looking at photos like these. This image feels like both a scientific document and a profound connection to another human being, Ka-Ja-Roe. Think about it: photography was still relatively new then! There was this craze to record… *everything*, including people, as if to catalogue humanity itself. There's something both exciting and… unnerving, almost voyeuristic, in that ambition. Editor: Unnerving, yes! He seems to almost stare into nothing. It reminds me a bit of early anthropological studies. Was it meant as an objective record? Curator: Perhaps! Although ‘objective’ is a slippery slope. Hisgen wasn't just pointing a camera. He made choices – composition, lighting… these inject his perspective. It exists as an attempt, sure, but that alone shifts this from neutral record to…art? Editor: That is definitely something to ponder. So it really is this intersection of art, science, and maybe, even a bit of politics, wouldn’t you agree? Curator: Absolutely! I'd be curious to learn Ka-Ja-Roe's thoughts if he were to gaze back at us, across time, right now. The power dynamics alone makes one stop and think, I hope, just a little deeper about ourselves, what and how we archive. Editor: This photo really gave me something to think about!