Portret van prinses Juliana op een kar achter een speelgoedpaard c. 1913 - 1915

This photograph depicts Princess Juliana in a toy cart, taken by Herman Deutmann sometime in the early 20th century. It’s monochromatic, with soft gradations of tone and a slightly surreal air. I'm thinking about what Deutmann was trying to capture. He carefully posed the princess with her toy horse, and the backdrop is very dreamlike and evocative. Did he want to convey the innocence of childhood, or make some grand statement about royalty and their place in the world? It's fascinating how such a simple image can provoke so many thoughts. The texture is smooth and the details are quite sharp. And it makes me wonder, what was it like to be a royal child, always in the public eye, always having your picture taken? But Deutmann was trying to express, I bet he hoped to capture something authentic, something that would resonate with viewers long after the moment had passed.