Portret van koningin Wilhelmina en prins Hendrik Possibly 1912 - 1931

This photograph of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik by Herman Deutmann, now hanging in the Rijksmuseum, is a tonal study in brown. I can almost feel Deutmann carefully posing the royal couple and adjusting the lights in his studio. Think about the patience required to get just the right exposure and for the subjects to stay still. I bet it was anything but still behind the camera. I wonder what it was like for the Queen and her Prince standing for so long in their formal attire! The Prince in his heavy military uniform. The Queen in her white dress. The sepia tone gives everything a dreamy, timeless quality. When I look closely, I notice the details in the Queen’s dress and the Prince’s uniform, but it's the overall mood that stays with me, and makes me wonder: what were they like? This photograph becomes a little window into a world that's both familiar and distant. It's a reminder of the stories that photographs can tell, and the memories they can hold.