Leiden University Libraries Digital Collections

Hendrik Jonker & Zoon was a professional photo studio founded by Hendrik Jonker Sr. (1846-1932) in 1883 in Leiden. Around 1909, his son, Hendrik Jonker Jr. (1883-1944), joined the company and from then on, the studio was called Hendrik Jonker & Zoon. Hendrik Jonker Sr. retired at the age of 74 in 1920. Due to the fact that the majority of work in this collection is dated between 1920 and 1940 we can assume that it’s made by Hendrik Jonker Jr. The collection consists of ca. 1220 glass plate negatives (gelatin dry plate negatives) and 580 gelatin silver negatives. The main subject is the Leiden student life between 1920 and 1940: photographs commissioned by students to documents events in the social realm outside the university buildings. In addition, there are photographs of buildings, interiors and events that seem to be commissioned by Leiden University itself.

The collection contains group portraits, photographs of dinners, masquerades, initiation rites and other ceremonial or festive student events, competitions of various students’ sport clubs such as the Njord rowing club, interiors with people and events of students’ associations like student fraternity L.S.C. and sorority V.V.S.L. (The latter two fused and became the unisex students’ association Minerva in 1974.) Also present, although in minority, are portraits of Leiden University personnel such as professors among which also some reproductions of painted portraits, and medical staff at work in Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and interiors of university buildings, among which the Academy Building and various spaces of the LUMC. The style of Hendrik Jonker & Zoon can best be described as documentary and neutral.