Ed van der Elsken: Amsterdam ! (English version) Old photos 1947-1970

Ed van der Elsken dove into his extensive archive in the late seventies to compile a book of his black-and-white images of Amsterdam, the city in which he had always lived, with the exception of 1950-1954. He often worked in the neighbourhood of his house on Koningstraat, taking photos on the Nieuwmarkt, Zeedijk and Waterlooplein. Atmospheric images of the fifties, the riots during the turbulent sixties, lots of people, young people, but also architecture and degradation in the old city centre. From the foreword by Ed van der Elsken: ‘My Amsterdam. My Amsterdam-ers. Often friends that you’d say “Hey mate” to, or “Hey, me old mucker”, or “Hi love”. People from respectable neighbourhoods, the Nieuwmarkt, the Zeedijk, the wallen, the Nieuwendijk, the Haarlemmerstraat, the Jordaan, the Jodenbuurt, the Kinkerbuurt, the Pijp, the Eilanden, Wittenburg, Kattenburg. People that never go to the Apollolaan or the Goudkust, or perhaps only as the milkman, or as a burglar.’
This unique document has now been reissued, including new scans from the original negatives.