Drie foto's van de administrateurswoning te Wanasari en de oogst van kinabast 1910

These photographs from 1910 by Carolina Onnen, show an administrator's house and a group of indigenous people harvesting Cinchona bark. I think of the photographer, Carolina Onnen, positioning her camera. Three photos in a layout. Her eye is focused on colonial life in Indonesia. The sepia tones evoke nostalgia and a sense of distance. The soft focus gives it an almost dreamlike quality. The architectural lines of the house are carefully framed, a marker of colonial presence. The photo of the forest feels more spontaneous and intimate, people at work, a document of the land and its resources. Onnen’s work reminds us of other photographers of the era, like Isabelle von Hess, capturing slices of life, freezing moments in time. These images create a dialogue across time, prompting us to reflect on the historical gaze and its impact. Each photo is an invitation to see the layers of history, the human stories embedded in the landscape.