Portret van Wilhelmina, koningin der Nederlanden, en Hendrik van Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1906

This is Portret van Wilhelmina, koningin der Nederlanden, en Hendrik van Mecklenburg-Schwerin by Guy de Coral & Co. and it lives here at the Rijksmuseum. Imagine the photographer setting up his shot. A heavy camera, a darkened room. Who were Guy de Coral & Co? Were they one person, or several? And what was it like to photograph royalty? The photograph has captured a stillness, but the surface of the photograph itself isn’t still. It’s got this slightly mottled, almost velvety texture. A field of greys, blacks, and whites. The artist has let the photo emerge through trial and error. I’m struck by how the light catches on the Queen’s dress, the folds and layers creating a sense of depth and volume. It’s a dialogue, I think, between light and shadow, presence and absence. And so painting and photography are always in conversation, inspiring each other’s creativity across time. The Queen and her Prince are, like all of us, caught in a moment, in a gaze.