The development of photography in the early 19th century saw
the introduction of the Daguerreotype, a groundbreaking photographic method
developed by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre in the
1830s. This method quickly captured global attention, including in the Dutch
East Indies.
After extensive experiments with various materials and
chemicals, Daguerre successfully created a photograph on a copper medium, which
he named the Daguerreotype. As detailed by Piti Ermawati in “19th Century
Photographic Media: Daguerreotype, Calotype, and Collodion,” published in Jurnal
Rekam (Vol. 13, No. 2, October 2017), Daguerre’s method represented a
significant milestone in the field of photography.
News of the Daguerreotype’s success rapidly spread to
different countries, including the Dutch East Indies. Jean German Taylor, in
his article “Aceh in Photo Narratives, 1873–1930,” published in New
Perspectives on Indonesian History Writing (2013), noted that the Dutch East
Indies government quickly recognized photography’s potential. This led to the
commissioning of photographs of natural landscapes and ancient relics by
Jurrian Munnich, a health service official, in 1842.
Munnich, accompanied by archaeologist W.A. van den Ham, used
the Daguerreotype technique to capture images in Java. However, his efforts
were thwarted by technical issues and the tropical humidity, resulting in
disappointing outcomes. Achmad Sunjayadi, in “Capturing Aesthetics: Photography
in Colonial Tourism Promotion in the Dutch East Indies,” published in Wacana
(Vol. 10, No. 2, October 2008), highlighted these challenges, stating, “Out of
64 images, the results were very disappointing.”
The news of Munnich’s failures reached the Netherlands,
where Adolph Schaefer, a German who owned a photo studio, saw an opportunity.
With the help of Franz von Siebold, an advisor to the Minister of Colonial
Affairs, Schaefer obtained a recommendation to continue the photography work in
the Dutch East Indies. Before departing, Schaefer learned directly from
Daguerre in Paris, quickly mastering the Daguerreotype technique, as noted by
Jane Levy Reed in Manoa (Vol. 12, No. 1, 2000).
Schaefer arrived in the Dutch East Indies in June 1844, but
it wasn’t until early 1845 that he began his assignments. His initial task was
to photograph the collections of the Royal Batavian Society of Arts and
Sciences, producing around 66 successful images. This success was reported by
the Javasche Courant on February 22, 1845, which praised Schaefer’s work in
Buitenzorg.
In September 1845, Schaefer set out to photograph the
Borobudur Temple, a complex task due to the narrow corridors and the lack of a
proper darkroom. Despite these obstacles, Schaefer managed to produce 58
high-quality photos, as documented by Herman J. Moeshart in “Daguerreotypes by
Adolph Schaefer,” published in History of Photography (Vol. 9, No. 3, 1985).
These images, now preserved at Leiden University, represent the earliest
photographic documentation of the Borobudur Temple.
Schaefer’s work laid the groundwork for future photographic
endeavors in the Dutch East Indies. The efforts to document Borobudur were
continued by Isidore van Kinsbergen in the 1850s and later by Kassian Cephas,
the first indigenous photographer, who captured several temples in Yogyakarta
and the Karmawibhangga reliefs at the base of Borobudur in 1890.
The early days of photography in the Dutch East Indies
highlight the challenges and successes of pioneering photographers like Jurrian
Munnich and Adolph Schaefer. Their work not only documented historical sites
but also paved the way for future generations of photographers, leaving a
lasting legacy in the field of photographic documentation.
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