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.