Portret van Wilhelmina, koningin der Nederlanden 1934

Franz Ziegler made this portrait of Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands, most likely with a camera and a dark room, but I'm seeing it now. It is almost completely tonal, built on a scale that is subtle. It makes me think about value in painting - of the greyscale, the blacks, the whites, and of course all the grey bits in between. I imagine Franz trying to achieve this composition. Wilhelmina's placement on the staircase. Does she know she’s being placed? How aware is she of the photographer? There is a certain coolness, but also a softness to the image, an ethereal quality created by the veil. I can imagine him really needing to capture the light just so to create the desired effect. Painters have always looked at photos, and photographers have always been inspired by paintings. Each trying to push the boundaries of their respective media, it becomes a game of leapfrog, each trying to create a novel perspective, inspiring one another’s creativity.