Ed van der Elsken's "Love on the Left Bank" online

The Dutch photomuseum (Nederlands Fotomuseum) has made the famous photographic novel on Parisian bohemians of the 1950's available online.

 

In the 1950s Ed van der Elsken left Holland for Paris.  Here he encountered the bohemian society of Saint-Germain-de-Prés. Marked by the bitter post-war atmosphere these young people spent their days in bar, living on alcohol and drugs. At the suggestion of Edward Steichen, whom van der Elsken met in Paris, he turned his photographs into a photographic novel. 'Love on the Left Bank' instantly made him world famous.

August 18, 2014