Colonia Suriname

 

For almost forty years the sisters Curiel sisters took pictures of everyday life in Suriname. The photographs show that Augusta Curiel was a compositional and a technically gifted photographer. She always worked with available light and no photometer. Despite these limitations, they proved able to create beautiful images in dim government buildings, churches and factories. Curiel's oeuvre is made up of mostly daily life topics, which were of value to historians and other interested parties. They photographed both in their studio and on plantations and in the interior. The botanist Gerold Stahel took the women on some of his expeditions. Many of the surviving images are group portraits, made by and for (mission) schools, boarding schools and orphanages.