Jongens van de Jeugdstorm met de Nederlandse vlag Possibly 1934 - 1935

This photograph of the *Jongens van de Jeugdstorm met de Nederlandse vlag* was made at some point in the early twentieth century. The group portrait, in its very rigid staging, makes me think about how we use images to try and solidify or perform particular kinds of identity. The lack of color flattens the image out, making the boys appear as a series of marks or tones. The photograph doesn't give us much access to the texture of the scene, or the feeling of the day. Instead, our eye is drawn to the flag, a very material thing, but also a symbol. Look closely at the faces of the boys - what do you think that they are thinking and feeling? The image seems to be in conversation with a lot of the formal portraiture that came before it, and also much of the propaganda that followed. It’s about seeing and being seen, but it is also about the way that an image can be used to express ideas, to bring people together, or to exclude them.