Photographic Subjects

Winner of the ASAA mid-career book prize in Asian Studies 2020 and joint winner of the 2020 Royal Studies Journal Book Prize

Photographic subjects examines photography at royal celebrations during the reign of Queens Wilhelmina (1898–1948) and Juliana (1948–80), a period spanning the zenith and fall of Dutch rule in Indonesia. It is the first monograph in English on the Dutch monarchy and the Netherlands’ modern empire in the age of mass and amateur photography. Photographs forged imperial networks, negotiated relations of recognition and subjecthood between Indonesians and Dutch authorities, and informed cultural modes of citizenship at a time of accelerated colonial expansion and major social change in the East Indies/Indonesia. This book advances methods in the uses of photographs for social and cultural history and provides a new interpretation of Queens Wilhelmina and Juliana as imperial monarchs.