Portret van Wilhelmina, koningin der Nederlanden 1918

This is Herman Deutmann's photographic portrait of Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands. Looking at this print, I’m drawn to the way the dark ink settles into the fibers of the paper. It makes me think about the quiet alchemy of photography. The tones are like whispers, each shade carefully calibrated. You see it in the oval backdrop, dissolving from a dark chocolate to a smoky grey. It’s as if the background itself is a character, a mood, a supporting player in this royal drama. Then there's the lace at her neck. It looks as though it's been sketched with light itself. The shadows under her chin and around her eyes suggest not just form, but character. It reminds me of the intimate portraits by Nadar, or Julia Margaret Cameron. They used photography to capture something more than just a likeness, but also a sense of inner life. It’s a reminder that art is a conversation across time.