Pagina 39 van fotoboek van de Algemeene Vereeniging van Rubberplanters ter Oostkust van Sumatra (A.V.R.O.S.) c. 1924 - 1925

This photograph by J.W. Meyster comes from a photo book of the Algemeene Vereeniging van Rubberplanters, or the General Association of Rubber Planters, in Sumatra. I imagine Meyster out there, lugging his equipment around the rubber plantation, framing the shot. What was he thinking as he looked through the lens? What was it like to be a photographer at that time? The tones are rich and warm, like a sepia dream. It feels so distant from our current moment, yet it captures a specific time and place. There's a quiet intimacy in the way Meyster composes the image, a stillness that invites contemplation. You get the sense that he wasn’t just documenting, he was trying to understand something about this place and its people. It makes me think about the broader history of photography and its relationship to colonialism. How has the act of seeing and recording shaped our understanding of the world?