Koffieaanplant verwoest door modderstroom c. 1900 - 1935

This stereoscopic photograph, made by Neville Keasberry, captures a coffee plantation devastated by a mudslide. It's all grayscale tones here, which flattens the image, but also heightens the texture. You can almost feel the grit of the mud and the rough bark of the trees. The destruction is palpable, but it's the seemingly untouched trees that hold my attention. They stand tall amidst the chaos, their spindly branches reaching upwards. It's a reminder of nature's indifference. There’s something bleakly beautiful in the details: the way the light catches the barren landscape. The image is a memento mori, a reminder of mortality, and the relentless power of the earth. Keasberry, working in the late 19th and early 20th century, seems preoccupied with this balance of life and destruction. His work shares a kinship with photographers like Carleton Watkins, who documented the American West with a similar blend of awe and melancholy. Ultimately, this photograph is less about the specific disaster and more about the cyclical nature of life, death, and renewal.