Ingang Wanicastraat van Chineesch kerkhof 1903 - 1910

Curator: Let's turn our attention now to this fascinating photographic print by Hendrik Doijer, titled "Ingang Wanicastraat van Chineesch kerkhof," dating from 1903 to 1910. It depicts the entrance to a Chinese cemetery. Editor: It's striking, isn't it? The tonal range is really quite limited; it gives the scene a hushed, almost otherworldly quality. I’m immediately drawn to the textures - the rough-hewn wooden gate and the overgrown vegetation. Curator: Yes, the softness in the focus contributes to a sense of pictorialism, aligning the photograph with painting styles that evoke specific emotions. You’ll also notice the influences of Orientalism in its subject matter – the exotic and mysterious East represented for Western consumption. Doijer was clearly participating in the popular fascination with "the Orient". Editor: It speaks to a specific kind of labor too, doesn't it? The gate isn't mass produced, its materiality reveals handcrafting, a slower temporality. Even the untamed, lush landscape surrounding the cemetery suggests an engagement with the physical environment shaped by specific agricultural and funerary practices of the community using this land. Curator: Indeed. Beyond the craftsmanship, consider the political dimension: Photography was also becoming an instrument of colonial documentation, often reinforcing pre-conceived notions of other cultures and solidifying power structures. Images like this, circulating back to Europe, shaped perceptions of life in the colonies. Editor: I agree. And it prompts me to wonder about access to and the consumption of images like these, who was its intended audience and who controlled the means of producing and viewing it? The gate barring entry reminds us of divisions - visible and invisible. Curator: It truly exemplifies the way photography functioned within a larger societal framework during the Dutch colonial period, navigating ideas of culture, identity, and power. Editor: Absolutely. Looking closely at its formal qualities encourages a consideration of not only whose lives we glimpse in the photograph, but whose labor built these scenes, making Doijer’s work richer than just an image of “the exotic”. Curator: Precisely, it gives us a great deal to consider about representation and its effects in early 20th century photographic practices.