A collection of candid 1917 photographs documenting children playing on the beach at Zandvoort, captured by Charlotte Alida Boelen-Matthes.

This archival page from a private collection captures a series of candid moments at the Zandvoort seaside in 1917. The photographer, Charlotte Alida Boelen-Matthes, documents the leisure activities of her daughter, Hetty, and other children during the early twentieth century. The composition features four distinct photographic prints mounted onto a grey album page, each accompanied by handwritten annotations in Dutch that identify the subjects and the location.

The images provide a glimpse into the domestic life of the Dutch bourgeoisie during the First World War. While the Netherlands remained neutral, the social customs and fashions of the era are clearly visible in the children's attire, including white dresses and structured hats. The photographs utilise a mix of circular and rectangular formats, a common practice in early twentieth-century scrapbooking, which allowed for a dynamic arrangement on the page. The central inscription, 'Zandvoort 1917', anchors the collection in both time and place.

Technically, these gelatin silver prints exhibit the soft, sepia-toned quality typical of the period. The focus remains on the informal nature of the scenes, capturing the children playing in the sand and sitting together in the dunes. By preserving these personal records, Boelen-Matthes created a visual diary that transcends its original private purpose. The arrangement reflects the aesthetic sensibilities of the era, where the album page itself functioned as a curated space for memory. This print offers an authentic look at historical childhood, removed from the formal constraints of studio portraiture. It serves as a record of social history, documenting the simple pleasures of a day at the coast during a period of global uncertainty.