Ed van der Elsken

Ed van der Elsken, enfant terrible of Dutch photography, captured his encounters with people in photographs, photo books and films for more than 40 years. He started photographing in the late 1940s, so his photography spans the period from World War II to the 1970s. His images from this era capture, among other things, life in 'his Amsterdam' - a post-war era full of rebellious youths on mopeds, small uprisings harshly put down by cops on horseback and snow on the city's ruined roofs. But Ed also photographed Amsterdam's markets, fairgrounds and girls who caught his eye. Although at first glance Van der Elsken's work appears to be documentary photography, he had a subjective style in which reality and imagination intermingle. Thus, he also photographed imitated or created realities such as dioramas, wax figures, and posters, in which one may, at times, discover a socially critical view.