Kloof van Harau op Sumatra met rijstveld c. 1900 - 1920

Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis made this photograph of the Harau Canyon in Sumatra. The image, with its sharp focus on the rice field, draws attention to the area's agricultural landscape and the labor practices of the people who lived there. Nieuwenhuis was Dutch, and this photograph was likely taken in the late 19th or early 20th century, during the Dutch colonial period in Indonesia. During that time, the Dutch exploited the natural resources of the Indonesian archipelago and implemented policies that transformed the social and economic structures of the local population. It’s important to remember that landscape imagery like this was never neutral. The choice of the landscape as the theme and the naturalization of labor relations are both features of colonial ideology. Examining archival documents, such as colonial records and travel accounts, will help us to better understand the historical context.