Het kantoor van de Firma Sandel met de hangbrug over de Wampoe rivier, Tandjong Poera, Langkat Sumatra c. 1890 - 1900

This photograph shows the Sandel Company office with its suspension bridge over the Wampoe River in Langkat Sumatra, and was taken by Heinrich Ernst & Co. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Dutch East Indies was a crucial site for colonial exploitation. This image documents the infrastructure developed to extract resources like tobacco and rubber. The Sandel Company, likely Dutch, established its office to oversee operations in the region. The bridge symbolizes the company's reach and control over the local landscape and people. Photographs like these served multiple purposes. They documented colonial activities for administrative purposes and promoted the idea of European progress and dominance back home. By studying such images in the context of colonial archives, economic records, and local histories, we can better understand the complex power dynamics at play and the lasting impacts of colonialism on both the colonizers and the colonized.