Portret van een jonge vrouw en groepsfoto van werknemers in Moengo, Suriname 1927 - 1931

Here we have two photographs, laid out in a scrapbook, probably taken in Moengo, Suriname. The one up top is a portrait of a young woman perched on some steps, and beneath is a group shot of workers, right there in the forest. You know, when I look at this I think about the photographer setting up the shot. All the waiting, all the stuff that goes wrong. I can imagine the first woman's dress: the light fabric rippling in the humid breeze. A heavy weight of expectation must have weighed down on the workers posing down below. I bet there were so many other photos taken that day, photos that didn’t make the cut, the in-between moments, blurred or out of focus. The actual doing, the real hands-on creation of this moment, is now lost in time. But aren’t we all just pictures waiting to be taken, moments waiting to be lived, gestures hoping to be caught?