A Photographic Perspective on The City of Amsterdam Through the Eyes of Photography Collective 'Ed Amsterdam'
Steemfest will start tomorrow and I know people have been looking at TripAdvisor type of sites to figure out what to do and what to see in Amsterdam. Hopefully, most of you will stay a little bit longer in order to explore the city.
Ed Amsterdam
I'd like to take some time to show you photographic work of the collective Ed Amsterdam which I'm part of. We were founded in 2012 with the idea to combine forces and share our views of the city we live and work in. From the start, we had 2 simple rules; the pictures have to have a direct link with Amsterdam and they have to be shot on film. The name 'Ed Amsterdam' is an homage to the late Ed van der Elsken a photographer who had a very peculiar style and a great amount of talent on a social level. He interacted with his subjects and was, therefore, able to create spontaneity. His film 'Een fotograaf filmt Amsterdam' (My Amsterdam) is a classic example of this social engagement. Below a spread from the book.
Shoot Film
Before Ed Amsterdam was born all participating photographers were already shooting on film. The reason to shoot on film differs slightly per photographer but has a lot to do with a certain type of focus and concentration when you shoot on film. The physicality of shooting on film is something that we value immensely within Ed Amsterdam.
'The Amsterdammers'
Recently Ed Amsterdam member Maarten van der Kamp made his first book called 'The Amsterdammers'. It is published by Das Mag in collaboration with Top Notch. The work in this book was created during a 3 year period in which van der Kamp walked the streets of the city centre for at least 5 days week, 8 hours per day. Last year me and Rick Erfmann made a short film about this project. In this film van der Kamp talks about how he got involved in street photography and what made him take on this epic project.
Maarten. Amsterdam, 2015 - Short Documentary
Last week the book launched at gallery Vriend van Bavink, located at the end of the Red light district. The exhibition which shows all 150 photographs from the book (hand printed by the photographer himself) are on display until 19 November.
The gallery is within walking distance from the old church. So on Sunday, after you had a delicious Dutch pancake, take a stroll along the Red light and have a look at some astonishing photography.
I hope everybody enjoys his stay in Amsterdam. And perhaps these photographs provide for a little bit of a different look, feel or even energy that this lovely city has to offer. I'm really curious what kind of photography people will come up with. It's always very interesting to see what people from outside the city notice and capture! Thank you for reading and hope to see all of you at Steemfest!
Interesting to know people still shoot on film when some people don't even know that that is. :-)
Yeah I know right? But actually a couple of photography stores in Amsterdam started to do good business again the moment Lomography become popular. All of a sudden there was a huge demand for film and 1 hour development :)
Do you shoot on film your self?
Not for a decade or more. Oops, I'm giving up my age.
I want to see if I can buy a few rolls and keep as antique. :-)
haha, no worries. Age is just a number. Like these, on this box ;)
Whoa... 1989 ISO 100. I think I use some of these before. :-)
:D I've been tempted to use this roll, but then I cant do it because it's such a nice object as well.