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

This photograph captures three men in a car at the Batang Serangan company of the Deli Maatschappij on Sumatra, though we don’t know who took it or exactly when. I imagine the photographer, maybe an amateur, carefully framing the shot. It's about getting the light right, waiting for the right moment, and hoping the subjects hold still, while capturing a sense of place: the building, the greenery. You wonder what they thought they were doing. Were they trying to document the moment, or trying to capture a feeling? I bet they wanted to create something beautiful, but also something that would last. What do you think the photographer would make of our conversation today, about their long-lost picture? Art making is a process of ongoing exchange, where ideas and images are passed down and transformed across time. We keep the conversation going.