Kinderen op de steiger van plantage Accaribo, Suriname 1930

This photograph of children on the jetty of the Accaribo plantation in Suriname was taken by Theodoor Brouwers, likely in the early 20th century. The Accaribo plantation, like many others in Suriname, was built on the brutal exploitation of enslaved people. In this oval-shaped print, we see a group of children, some in play clothes, others barefoot, gazing back at the camera. The image is quiet and still, and yet, the children's relaxed postures belie the complex history of colonialism and forced labor that permeates the land on which they stand. Who are these children? What is their relationship to the plantation? Do they represent the multi-ethnic character of Surinamese society at the time, a mix of Indigenous, European, African, and Asian descent? Brouwers does not give us any answers. Instead, what remains is a photograph that invites us to reflect on childhood, identity, and the legacy of colonialism. It reminds us to consider whose stories are told and whose are left out of the frame.