Koningin Wilhelmina leest een Nederlands verzetsblad in haar werkkamer in Londen 1945

Editor: This gelatin-silver print, taken by Anefo in 1945 and titled 'Queen Wilhelmina Reading a Dutch Resistance Newspaper in her Office in London,' is really striking. The grainy texture and stark contrasts create a solemn mood. What symbolic weight do you think the act of reading, particularly reading banned materials, holds in this image? Curator: Indeed. It's potent because reading *is* seeing. Queen Wilhelmina's gaze, fixed on those forbidden words, connects her to a vital artery of resistance, a network of shared defiance. It underscores how information, especially in occupied territories, transforms into a powerful weapon, a symbol of unbroken spirit. The paper *itself* becomes a character, laden with meaning. What elements draw you to the Queen herself? Editor: I hadn't thought about the paper itself. I guess seeing her so absorbed humanizes her. She's not just a monarch in exile but someone desperate to stay connected with her people’s suffering and bravery. Curator: Precisely. Royalty, power - these are potent signs. By engaging with the banned newspaper, Wilhelmina also takes on the role of guardian for a national consciousness kept alive within the resistance. Is there an overall emotion you have with the piece? Editor: I think a powerful sense of determined hope. Curator: The emotion reflects both her personal strength, but her people’s will to survive as a culture and independent state. The Queen becomes, through the act of reading and disseminating information, more than a symbol, but proof to cultural endurance during times of turmoil and repression. Editor: It's fascinating how the photograph captures these multi-layered meanings embedded within such a seemingly simple action. Thanks for showing how all this historical information can really be decoded by a trained eye.