Pagina 78 van fotoboek van de Algemeene Vereeniging van Rubberplanters ter Oostkust van Sumatra (A.V.R.O.S.) c. 1924 - 1925

This photograph by J.W. Meyster, taken in Sumatra, is a stark scene, a grayscale tableau of what looks like environmental disruption, or maybe a field cleared for planting. I feel for Meyster, trying to capture this landscape, probably thinking about documentation, or maybe even some kind of progress. The texture of the wood and earth is almost palpable, dense, a close-up view of a cleared forest. There is something really sad about this image; this land and the lives within it, once teeming with growth and the sounds of birds, is gone. I can only imagine how many photographs that were once celebrations of progress, technology and innovation, will now only serve as painful reminders of ecological loss and damage. And I wonder, how many ways can we reframe our understanding of the world through art? How can we become more attuned to the nuances of our interaction with the environment and each other, learning to see with greater clarity and intention?