Gezicht op Karbouwengat en de weg naar Matoer op Sumatra c. 1900 - 1920

This photograph, "Gezicht op Karbouwengat en de weg naar Matoer op Sumatra," was captured by Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis. It's a landscape of Sumatra. I can imagine Nieuwenhuis, camera in hand, positioning himself just so to capture this expansive view. What strikes me are the layers – the meticulously patterned rice fields leading the eye towards the winding road, then further back to the towering rock formations, and finally, the distant mountain. It’s like he’s mapped out space itself. You can feel the heat and humidity, the thick air. I wonder what it was like for him, being there, seeing this view. I feel his presence, his breath, his movement through the landscape, and his desire to communicate this to others. Ultimately, art-making is a way of sharing experiences, of creating a dialogue across time and cultures.