Kappen van oerbos voor de aanleg van een rubberplantage van de Deli Maatschappij bij Soengai Tanik op Sumatra c. 1900 - 1920

This photograph, whose maker is unknown to us, shows the felling of a primeval forest for the establishment of a rubber plantation of the Deli Company near Soengai Tanik on Sumatra. Look at the way the tones have been built up here; it’s like a charcoal drawing, with soft gradients and subtle shifts in value. The anonymous photographer hasn't tried to prettify the devastation, but instead offers us a raw and unflinching view. The textures in this piece have this tactile quality that makes you want to reach out and touch it. Each stump, each broken branch, each disturbance in the earth feels palpable, as if you could run your fingers over the rough bark. I think of Edward Burtynsky, whose large-format photographs document the impact of industry on the landscape. Like Burtynsky, this anonymous photographer confronts us with the scale of human intervention in the natural world, and invites us to reflect on the consequences of our actions. Art, at its best, holds up a mirror to society, even if that mirror reflects an image we'd rather not see.