By Aleksandria Rudenko | Published 28 October 2026

Lawyer smiling under the Paleis van Justitie letters in The Hague, a black gown with white bands over her arm, in black and white

These lawyer portraits in The Hague began where Merel spends many working days: at the Paleis van Justitie. She had just started her own practice and wanted portraits that felt like her, gown and all.

We had just under an hour on a bright day in mid-March. As with most of my photoshoots in The Hague, we stayed in one area, and the court and the square beside it gave us plenty.

Where
The Paleis van Justitie on the Prins Clauslaan, The Hague
When
Mid-March, just after noon
Session
Portrait Photoshoot
Light
Soft daylight by the court, then bright March sun

Just After Noon at the Paleis van Justitie

The Paleis van Justitie on the Prins Clauslaan, in the Beatrixkwartier, houses the district court and the court of appeal of The Hague. Its long wall carries the name in large letters, and that became our first backdrop. I kept the frames wide, so the letters and Merel’s quick stride could tell the story together.

Woman in a long dark coat walking past the wall of the Paleis van Justitie with a leather bag, its name in large letters above
The Paleis van Justitie on the Prins Clauslaan, 12:15

She brought her gown, black with the white bands that lawyers wear in court. She carried it over her arm, as on any working day. Under the letters, she stopped, looked up and smiled. I photographed this first part in black and white, which suits the clean lines of the building.

Profile of a woman in a blazer looking up beneath the court sign, her folded gown and a leather bag held in front of her
Black and white frame of a woman striding past the court wall in a long coat and heels, small beneath the big letters

Lawyer Portraits in Black and White

At the entrance sign of the Rechtspraak, the Dutch judiciary, Merel wore a trench coat. A folder rested under her arm.

Lawyer in a trench coat smiling beside the de Rechtspraak sign for the Paleis van Justitie at Prins Clauslaan 60 in The Hague
The entrance sign at Prins Clauslaan 60

Then I stepped back for a full-length frame, with the tall towers of the Beatrixkwartier rising behind her.

Full-length frame of a woman in a trench coat on the steps by the Rechtspraak sign at Prins Clauslaan 60, high-rise towers behind

After that, we moved to a calmer wall nearby. In a blazer, with her arms crossed, she laughed for real, and I simply waited for that moment between my directions. Next came a laptop and a black tie-neck blouse, for the lawyer portraits in The Hague that her new website needed.

Close black and white portrait of a woman in a blazer and white top, arms crossed and laughing, a modern building soft behind her
Portrait of a lawyer in The Hague holding a laptop, in a blazer and black tie-neck blouse, smiling in soft black and white

A Lawyer on the Move in The Hague

Lawyers walk a lot, from the train to the court and back again. So for a few frames, I slowed the shutter and moved the camera with her across the square. The buildings turned into streaks, yet Merel stayed the clear center of each frame. My lens also darkens the edges a little, which gives these frames the feel of a scene from a film.

Motion blur of a woman walking across a square, the buildings stretched into streaks behind her and dark vignetting at the edges
Upright black and white frame of a lawyer in The Hague mid-stride, her gown over one arm, blurred by movement against the street
Movement in black and white, 12:49

Teal in the March Sun

A few minutes later, we found a warm stone wall in full sun, and I switched to color for the final part. Her teal suit glowed against the stone, while the wind kept playing with her hair. In one close frame, she laughs straight into the lens, and that is the one she now uses on her website.

Woman in a teal suit and black tie-neck blouse smiling against a warm, speckled stone wall in bright March sun
Woman in a teal suit with her arms crossed, smiling in front of a sunlit pink stone wall, a black tie-neck blouse at her collar
Close color portrait of a lawyer in The Hague laughing in her teal blazer, wind in her hair and the sunlit stone wall behind
Woman in sunglasses and a teal suit walking toward the camera under a long arcade of pillars, sun on the pale stone steps

The last frame shows Merel stepping down a flight of sunny stairs in her sunglasses, on her way back to work. For lawyer portraits in The Hague, I could not think of a better ending.

Lawyer in a teal suit and sunglasses stepping down sunlit stone stairs in The Hague, tree shadows on the steps, the last frame
Back to work, just before one

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