Portret van een jongen, leunend op een bureau met boeken 1883 - 1900

This is a small portrait of a boy leaning on a desk with books, captured by Albert A. Kleintjes. Although undated, this type of photograph was popular during a time of significant shifts in social structures and expectations around childhood. Here, the young man's posture is relaxed, almost world-weary, but his clothing implies a certain social standing. The books and desk point to education and privilege, signalling perhaps, the expectations placed upon young men of his class. What does it mean to be 'burdened' with opportunity? The image is striking in that it seems to want to say something about identity, but what? Ultimately, this portrait prompts us to consider the complex interplay between identity, expectation, and representation, and how these forces shape the stories we tell about ourselves and others.