Exterieur van een administrateurswoning van suikerfabriek Boedoeran in Sidoarjo op Java c. 1925 - 1930

This photograph by Isken pictures the exterior of a house in Sidoarjo, Java. The tones of this albumen print give us a clear sense of the materials involved, and the labor too. The building itself is a potent combination of local resources like wood and imported materials like cast iron. This gives the architecture its characteristic appearance. But the image also speaks to an immense, global system of agricultural production. This is a company house. The administrator who lived here oversaw the operations of the Boedoeran sugar factory. This building’s construction was enabled by intensive cultivation, refinement, and trade of sugar. A luxury product that required many hands at every stage. The refined symmetry of the building and formal landscaping speaks to a cultural aspiration. But more compellingly, this image stands as evidence of both creation and extraction. It prompts us to consider the social and political context surrounding its making.