Twins of an era
By: Louk Vreeswijk
Category: Europe, Netherlands
Ed van der Elsken (1925-1990) was a street photographer. Wherever he was, in Amsterdam, Paris or Tokyo, he roamed the streets with his camera for days on end and took pictures of … people.
Looking at his pictures at an exhibition of his work in 2017, the atmosphere of the 50s, 60s, 70s of the last century came movingly and often humourously back to life. And at the same time the realisation that it has all passed, become part of history.
At the time when Van der Elsken took his pictures, his work was much appreciated for the spontaneous, free and easy character of his street scenes and portraits. Now, with the passage of time, the added historical dimension has still increased the significance of his work. Without it having lost any of its original freshness and vitality.
Exhibition poster, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam 2017
Photo of the week: Twins at the Nieuwmarkt, Amsterdam 1956, – Ed van der Elsken exhibition, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands 2017
καιρός remembered 
Leave a Reply