Drie mannen in een auto op de onderneming Batang Serangang van de Deli Maatschappij op Sumatra c. 1900 - 1920

This photograph of three men in a car at the Batang Serangan enterprise in Sumatra is rendered in tones of grey, a reminder that photography is as much about light as it is about form. Look closely at the building in the background, with its sharp angles and thatched roof. It reminds me of a geometric abstraction, something Agnes Martin might have dreamed up. There is a strange stillness to the image, a sense of time suspended. The figures are posed, but there is a naturalness to their arrangement in the car, a casualness that speaks of everyday life. The texture of the photograph itself is interesting, a grainy surface that adds depth and character to the image. It's a small picture, but it contains a whole world. It makes me think of Ed Ruscha's photographic books, matter-of-fact and oddly poetic at the same time. Like Ruscha, this anonymous photographer seems to be saying something about the banality of modern life, even in the most exotic of locales. Art is always a conversation, isn't it? A way of seeing and thinking and experiencing the world, together.