Portret van een Indonesische man met jongen met parasol 1853 - 1880

This small photograph captures an Indonesian man and boy, likely made during the colonial period by the studio of Woodbury & Page. The man sits regally, adorned with markers of status, while a young boy attends to him, holding a parasol. The photograph speaks to the complexities of identity and power. The man's posture and clothing assert a certain authority, yet the image is mediated through the lens of a Western photographic studio. The boy's presence, rendered in a subservient pose, subtly underscores the dynamics of class and perhaps even servitude within the colonial context. These observations make you question how much control the subjects had over their own representation. Consider the gazes, what do they communicate about the subjects' understanding of themselves, and what do they reveal about the relationship between colonizer and colonized? As such, the photograph becomes a poignant reflection on the historical and cultural forces that shaped individual experiences.