Opzichter met werknemers c. 1900s - 1910s

This is a photograph of a supervisor with workers, and we don’t know who made it, or when, which is kind of interesting in itself. Looking at this, I’m struck by the arrangement of figures, a formal composition with a clear separation of roles. There’s the overseer in white, standing, while the workers are seated on the ground. It’s stark, and the monochrome palette adds to the sense of distance. The texture of the workers' clothing, the earth, and the field behind, all these details are so clear. I keep coming back to the seated figures: each face distinct, each person present. It's this contrast, between the formal arrangement and the individual humanity, that gives the image its power. Thinking about artists, it makes me think of someone like LaToya Ruby Frazier, with her unflinching portraits of people and places, or maybe even the social commentary of someone like Jacob Lawrence. Art keeps talking to itself, across time, always finding new ways to see.