Een reede in Indonesië met aangemeerde schepen. 1900 - 1915

Johanna Hermina Marmelstein made this photograph of a harbor in Indonesia. It's like stepping into a faded memory, isn't it? Everything is rendered in tones of grey and brown, which gives a sense of the past. Look closely at the dock. The planks are laid out in strong linear perspective. There's a tension between the receding lines of the dock and the bustling activity of the figures, all frozen in time. A bundle of beams sits to the side. You can almost feel the weight and texture of the wood. They are going somewhere, or have they just arrived? For me, this photo sits within a long tradition of photography and painting which find ways to show the beauty of mundane activities in everyday settings.