Aanleg spoorweg Suriname 1905 - 1910

Jacob Evert Wesenhagen captured "Aanleg spoorweg Suriname" in a photograph, whose date is unknown. It depicts a pivotal moment in the colonial history of Suriname. In this image, we see European men casually seated on a train car amid the lush, exploited landscape of Suriname. Their relaxed poses contrast sharply with the back-breaking labor required to build the very infrastructure on which they sit. The construction of the railway embodies the complex intersection of race, class, and colonial power. The tracks cut through the landscape, symbolizing both progress and the erasure of indigenous presence and the brutal exploitation of Afro-Surinamese laborers. The photograph seems to normalize the appropriation of land and labor. This image serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of progress and the unequal distribution of its benefits.