- intro
- projects
- essay
- exhibition
- press
- contact
-
above image:
Amsterdam discovered by New York photographers
To mark the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of Manhattan, Foam (Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam) is teaming up with the Amsterdam City Archives and the John Adams Institute to organise an exhibition about Amsterdam, as seen through the eyes of four New York photographers. Gus Powell, Carl Wooley, Richard Rothman and Joshua Lutz were each commissioned to explore a different aspect of the city: the street, the night, the water and the outskirts. This commission has resulted in surprising images, which show an unknown side of Amsterdam.
Joshua Lutz / AM✡DAM
Amsterdam, Nov. 2008
For his series Borders Joshua Lutz (1975) explored the outskirts of Amsterdam. He found a divers area, with the occasional American influence. A Cadillac in the carport of a pseudo Frank Lloyd Wright villa, or a Sizzling Wok restaurant lighting up the night sky with its neon signs. He encountered small communities that have withdrawn into their self-defined territory. The photographer shows that he is particularly attracted to the unmanicured aspects of landscapes that have managed to escape the clutches of urban planners.
Windmills from the roof of an abandoned building continue forever into the distance. Water quietly flows even in the smallest of towns surrounding the city. In some areas the canals are still frozen, but the ice is way too thin for the skaters quietly sitting on a bench.
I had spent so much time in New York looking at maps of Amsterdam, thinking about the role of borders in relationship to the city. It is so hard to believe that I am here right now underneath the A10. Surprised that no one was honking and trying to get my attention I slowly set up the camera. The roar of cars above is deafening. A Little boy and his grandfather walk together holding hands. The sun sets.
Neon Signs of a Burger king and Kentucky Fried Chicken light up this night sky. The traffic continues to speed by.
Driving north urban sprawl has comes to an end. The planned communities are no longer to blame and someone has decided at least for the meantime to let the pastures win. It feels good to be outside.
Just south a 1968 Cadillac and its Frank Lloyd Wright counterpart fight to mark their claim to American culture on the borders of Amsterdam.
Gus Powell / Voetganger
“Before I was a photographer, I was a pedestrian”, says Gus Powell (1974). For his series Voetganger (Pedestrian) he walked around the unknown streets of Amsterdam and was both at once. Most of the pedestrians have a destination, but his walk was unplanned and unpredictable, only guided by a sort of visual hunger. He was surprised by the openness of Dutch houses with their large windows. He looked at how the light reflects and turns windows into mirrors. The New Yorker got inspired to play a game with inside-outside and supposed reality.
I went to Amsterdam and walked around. I walked around with others and I walked around alone. Before I was a photographer, I was a pedestrian. These days, I am both at once. The eyes look out to the unknown street, a decision is made, the feet follow. As I walk, the camera is in hand, it gets raised to the eye, things are gathered.
Most of the pedestrians have a destination, but my walk is unplanned and unpredictable. I can’t say I know where I'm going or what I'm looking for, but I am guided by a sort of visual hunger. Sometimes I feel like a sheep grazing in a pasture – only seeing my shadow on the grass that’s right in front of me. Other times I feel like a monkey. Standing in one treetop I see something in the distance that’s of interest. So I grab a vine and swing towards it.
It’s a little bit chilly today, but there’s some sunlight, and I like the way it’s landing on the people and the leaves. I use the camera to stop another pedestrian in her stride. I look at how the light reflects and jumps off the big picture windows. As it gets quieter and darker outside, I see more happening inside. The homes are inviting. The lightbulbs in the chandeliers look warm. The camera is put away. It’s time to be a pedestrian with a destination.
Gus PowellAmsterdam, Nov. 2008
Richard Rothman / Water
Richard Rothman made his home in the center of Amsterdam in a houseboat docked at 52G Gruenburgwal, in late October and early November last year, to photograph “Water”, the theme he’d been given by FOAM Museum. “Autumn has always been my favorite season, the fiery endings of so much effort and gnawed-upon growth, combined with memories of new beginnings. Burnt-orange and acid-yellow leaves adorn the crowns of hardwood trees generously planted along the canals, their boughs drooping toward the water, as dots of color spill out along the ground and drift by on the surface—a harvest of ephemeral beauty that induces an eternal melancholy.”
“Of course, being on the water is only partly about water, just as cities are only partly about buildings. There are the trees, and the fish, and the birds, and the people, old and young, densely packed, bicycling on crowded streets on their way to work, to eat, to run errands, meet friends, find love, or spend solitary nights in their watery homes along the Amstel. There are the stars, and the winds, and the streetlights and the cafes on nearly every street, and all these things form fluid combinations of uniquely urban experiences that reaffirm the pleasures of human interaction and individuality.”
I set up shop in the center of Amsterdam in a houseboat docked at 52G Gruenburgwal, in late October and early November last year, to photograph “Water”, the theme I’d been given by Marloes Krijnen of FOAM Museum, for an exhibition titled “NY Perspectives: Amsterdam discovered by New York photographers”. Autumn has always been my favorite season, the fiery endings of so much effort and gnawed-upon growth, combined with memories of new beginnings. Burnt-orange and acid-yellow leaves adorned the crowns of hardwood trees generously planted along the canals, their boughs drooping toward the water, as dots of color spilled out along the ground and drifted by on the surface—a harvest of ephemeral beauty that induces an eternal melancholy.
Water braids its way through the center of Amsterdam and outward, forming vital arteries that define the movement, character, and aesthetics of a city that has been crafted and shaped by liquid and human engineering for centuries. Of course, being on the water is only partly about water, just as cities are only partly about buildings. There are the trees, and the fish, and the birds, and the people, old and young, densely packed, bicycling on crowded streets on their way to work, to eat, to run errands, meet friends, find love, or spend solitary nights in their watery homes along the Amstel. There are the stars, and the winds, and the streetlights and the cafes on nearly every street, and all these things form fluid combinations of uniquely urban experiences that reaffirm the pleasures of human individuality while celebrating the city’s collective achievement.
Carl Wooley / Night
Carl Wooley (1977) was surprised at how tranquil the streets of Amsterdam can be after sunset. For his series Night, he rode his bicycle through the darkened city and found himself drawn to the same kinds of spaces as in New York – the unintended landscapes that are a by-product of human development. By using the long exposures required when photographing at night, he was able to take advantage of the camera’s ability to record what would otherwise be invisible to the human eye, resulting in hyper-real images that create a sense of suspended animation.
Amsterdam Drift
by Rachel Esner
by Rachel Esner
©Rachel Esner
on view
may 14th - august 23rd, 2009
foam / stadsarschief, amsterdam
may 14th - august 23rd, 2009
foam / stadsarschief, amsterdam
opening may 13th, 2009, 8pm
curators
Esther Berger, Foam
Anneke van Veen, Amsterdam City Archives
designer exhibition
Jeroen de Vries
designer graphics
Vandejong
producers
Robert Wooning
De Smid Wijnheymer Metaalbewerking
lab
Kleurgamma
sponsors
Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst
City of Amsterdam
Amsterdamse Archieffonds