Waterstraat, Paramaribo 1903 - 1910

Hendrik Doijer made this photograph of Waterstraat, Paramaribo at an unknown date. It is an open and honest look at a particular place. The composition has a casual quality, as if Doijer just showed up and decided to take the picture then and there. We can see a quiet scene of houses and trees beyond a white fence. The photograph is printed in monochrome, with an emphasis on the interplay between light and shadow. It has a muted quality, reminiscent of turn-of-the-century photography. I think of Eugène Atget, who also captured the everyday beauty of urban life with a similar eye. As with Atget’s photographs, the charm of this piece resides in the fact that the artist seems to avoid romanticizing the scene. The focus is simply on what is there. It is a view of the street that says, "This is Paramaribo; it just is."