Koningin Wilhelmina en prins Bernhard in Londen 1942 - 1945

This photo album page, of unknown date and authorship, presents Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Bernhard in London through a series of monochrome photographs and a newspaper clipping. These are mass-produced items, not unique works of art. The photographs were likely captured on a commercially available film, using standardized developing processes, printed on photo paper. The newspaper clipping embodies industrial print production: typeset, printed on newsprint. The album itself, made of card, would also have been manufactured on a vast scale. The photographs show a royal family in exile, against the backdrop of wartime London. The newspaper clipping commemorates Dutch resistance, suggesting that the photo album was compiled as a tribute to the Dutch Royal Family during the war. The very ephemerality of the materials, the fact that they are not high art, only adds to their poignancy. Considering this work, it’s important to recognize how accessible materials and processes can be imbued with profound social and political meaning.