Vrouwen bezig met aanrijgen van tabaksbladeren in een droogschuur op Sumatra c. 1900 - 1915

Carl J. Kleingrothe made this photograph of women stringing tobacco leaves in a drying shed in Sumatra. It's a scene of labor, but the repetition of the wooden structure almost turns it into an abstract pattern. There's a starkness to the composition, a balance between light and shadow. You can almost feel the dry, dusty air in the shed. Look at the way the light catches the edges of the tobacco leaves, highlighting their texture. It's like the artist is inviting us to consider the physical reality of this work, the weight of the leaves, the roughness of the wood. This photograph reminds me a little of Bernd and Hilla Becher’s typologies of industrial structures. Like the Becher’s, Kleingrothe makes a formal study of working life, revealing both the beauty and the monotony inherent in labor. It leaves you to consider the stories embedded in the photograph, the lives and experiences of these women, while acknowledging that as viewers, we only see the surface.