Portret van een staand kind met een boek in de hand 1873 - 1899

This is Willem Gerhardus Kuijer's 'Portret van een staand kind met een boek in de hand', a photograph taken sometime in the 19th century. During this period, portraiture became increasingly accessible, yet it also solidified certain social norms and expectations, particularly around class and gender. The child in the photograph, likely from an affluent family, is posed with a book, a symbol of education and upward mobility. The book acts as a prop, carefully constructing an image of innocence and intellect, while also hinting at the gendered expectations of academic achievement. There is something quite unsettling about the staging of childhood, as if the subject is a doll whose character can be created by surrounding them with symbolic items. The photograph captures not just an individual, but also the broader societal values and the performative aspects of identity.