Landbouwers bij een artesische put in Bandung. 1900 - 1935

Neville Keasberry made this stereoscopic photograph titled, 'Landbouwers bij een artesische put in Bandung' or 'Farmers at an artesian well in Bandung'. Look at how the two images next to each other create a 3D effect, it is incredible for its time. This is the art of seeing, right? The composition, with the farmers clustered around the artesian well, is so immediate, so documentary. It feels like you’re right there with them. It’s the details that grab me, those rough textures, the simple clothing, the way the figures are arranged around the well. It’s almost like a painting, but a painting made with light. The farmers, the well, all rendered in shades of grey. Each of those figures tells a story, each bucket filled with water a testament to daily labor. This reminds me of August Sander’s portraits of German people. It is that same impulse to document life, to capture a specific moment in time. Both artists, in their own way, are reminding us of the humanity in everyday life, the beauty in the mundane.