Portret van Juliana, koningin der Nederlanden 1911 - 1912

This photograph captures Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands, and was made by Guy de Coral & Co.. You know, I've been thinking about this a lot lately, how we make images to be a little bit eternal, to hang onto something we can't keep. I look at this photo and wonder what was going through her mind and the mind of the photographer. What were they hoping to capture, this person who was going to be queen one day? Did they know? It's all shades of gray, a tiny human in an oval world, like a precious stone. I'm always drawn to these old photos; they're like little time capsules. It's easy to forget how much work went into taking a photo back then, especially with a child as a subject. I imagine the back and forth, the coaxing and waiting, the sheer labor of getting just one image. And now, here we are, looking back at her. It's like we're all in conversation, across time, trying to figure out what it all means.