Een oude Javaan met zijn Nederlandse legeronderscheidingen
When Indonesia broke free from the Netherlands, violence erupted between the Dutch and the Indonesian nationalists. The international press featured biased articles by, among others, photojournalist Thiessen. According to him, the country was not yet ready for
self-rule. He manipulated his photograph, asking this Javanese man in rags, a former soldier, to pin his medals on once more. The caption read: ‘Still loyal to the Dutch.’