Portret van een jongen 1891

This is Hendrik Jonker's photograph, “Portret van een jongen”, which lives at the Rijksmuseum. Jonker, who lived from 1846 to 1932, created this portrait in a time when photography was increasingly used to capture and codify social identities. Notice the young boy's posture, and the way he holds his hat. What does it tell us about the performance of masculinity during this period? The subject's gaze, direct yet somehow reserved, hints at the complex negotiation of identity. Who was he, and what possibilities lay ahead for him? Photographs like this one offer a window into the past. They reveal how individuals navigated societal expectations around gender, class, and respectability. They invite us to reflect on the emotional landscape of a bygone era. How does this image resonate with our own understanding of identity, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are?