Omslag voor 111 foto's en fotomechanische afdrukken van Nederlands-Indië c. 1895 - 1915

This anonymous cover for photographs of the Dutch East Indies holds a world of its own. Imagine the artisan carefully selecting the deep, earthy red that envelops this cover. This is the colour of something sacred. The texture gives the impression of leather. I picture the hands that crafted it, smoothing the material, carefully folding and binding the edges. Think about the photos it would have contained, a portal to a far-off land, filtered through the eye of the photographer. Maybe the cover has aged, seen the light, travelled great distances... The slightly worn edges are like a roadmap, each imperfection telling a story of journeys and memories, of someone's life. What was the relationship between the book binder and the photographer? Or the person who owned the collection? Isn’t it amazing how objects like this carry history, connecting us to people and places we may never know?