Oorthuys about his book:

'...in fact this is one of my works that I still more or less approve of now. It was very progressive, but as soon as it was published, the Police Actions started, making my book 'Staat in Wording' obsolete. It ended up at De Slegte [a bookshop selling left overs at discount prices]. This had the advantage that my friends could afford to buy and read it.' (4)

The book's layout emphasized the chasm between the Dutch interests and the Indonesian struggle for independence. About the importance of the context of his photographs, Oorthuys said:

'At the time, just after the war in 1947 I worked in Indonesia. In the part that was occupied by the Dutch. In Jakarta people were starving. They were dying of hunger in the streets. So I took all these pictures. People were walking around emaciated. They did not hesitate to place the entire series in a Belgian journal (with the added comment:) that the Republic was incapable to take care of its people and that they were starving to death. So they had completely changed around the meaning, the truth of my pictures. [...]' (5)