{"id":80556,"date":"2026-03-20T12:27:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T11:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/?p=80556"},"modified":"2026-04-01T11:49:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:49:55","slug":"ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/cultuur\/ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum\/","title":{"rendered":"Raw street photography Ed van der Elsken at Rijksmuseum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"634\" data-end=\"1113\"><strong>With the exhibition \u2018Ed van der Elsken. Upclose,\u2019 the Rijksmuseum presents a rich and layered portrait of the photographer who knew how to capture raw, unpolished life like no other. The exhibition offers a rare glimpse into his creative process, with, in addition to his well-known photographs, never-before-seen contact sheets, letters, notes, book designs and film fragments. This provides a complete picture of his working methods and his development as an artist.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1115\" data-end=\"1555\">Van der Elsken is considered a pioneer of street photography. At a time when distance and observation were the norm, he opted instead for proximity. He did not photograph from a distance, but sought direct contact with his subjects. As a result, his work feels intimate, honest and sometimes confrontational. He used his own life as a starting point and recorded the world as he experienced it - spontaneously, intuitively and without embellishment.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1115\" data-end=\"1555\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-80565\" title=\"ed-from-der-elsken-rijksmuseum9\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/app\/uploads\/ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum9.jpg\" alt=\"ed-from-der-elsken-rijksmuseum9\" width=\"1700\" height=\"956\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/app\/uploads\/ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum9.jpg 1700w, https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/app\/uploads\/ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum9-600x337.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/app\/uploads\/ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum9-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/app\/uploads\/ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum9-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/app\/uploads\/ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum9-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/app\/uploads\/ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum9-18x10.jpg 18w, https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/app\/uploads\/ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum9-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/app\/uploads\/ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum9-500x281.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1700px) 100vw, 1700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1115\" data-end=\"1555\"><strong><em>\u201cEd van der Elsken showed that real beauty lies in unpolished life - right where it really happens.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1557\" data-end=\"1931\">The exhibition is made possible in part by the acquisition of his entire work archive in 2019 by the Rijksmuseum and the Nederlands Fotomuseum. This collection, spanning four decades, shows all the key moments of his career. From his decision to work as an independent photographer to the penetrating images he made during his final phase of life.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1933\" data-end=\"2252\">What makes this exhibition special is the balance between the personal and the universal. His photographs show loves, encounters and city life, but at the same time tell a larger story about freedom, identity and zeitgeist. This keeps his work surprisingly current and relevant for a new generation.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2254\" data-end=\"2529\">Like the stories Amsterdam NOW brings - which center on experience, culture and character - this exhibition is an invitation to look differently. Not just at photography, but at the city and the people around you.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the exhibition \u2018Ed van der Elsken. Upclose,\u2019 the Rijksmuseum presents a rich and layered portrait of the photographer who knew how to capture raw, unpolished life like no other. The exhibition offers a rare insight into his creative process, featuring not only his well-known photographs but also never-before-seen contact sheets, letters, notes, book designs and film clips. ... <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/cultuur\/ed-van-der-elsken-rijksmuseum\/\"><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[10923],"district":[14],"class_list":["post-80556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultuur","tag-tentoonstellingen-amsterdam","district-amsterdam-zuid"],"acf":{"slider":[80559,80558,80560,80561,80563,80566,80557],"fotograaf":"","editor":"","video":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qH6PehR0Db0?si=1BRmmLrHnooqpQHR","google_360":"","instagram_code":"","subregel":"Het leven en werk van Nederlands grootste straatfotograaf komt tot leven in 't Rijks","new_in_town":false,"featured_item":false,"beste_van_amsterdam":false,"homepage_carousel":false,"cord_A":"4.8852188","cord_B":"52.3599976","introductie_tekst":"Deze zomer staat het Rijksmuseum in het teken van een van de meest invloedrijke fotografen van Nederland: Ed van der Elsken. Met de indrukwekkende overzichtstentoonstelling 'Ed van der Elsken. Upclose' wordt zijn veelzijdige oeuvre opnieuw onder de aandacht gebracht. Van iconische straatbeelden tot persoonlijke fragmenten uit zijn leven \u2013 dit is een tentoonstelling die je niet alleen bekijkt, maar ervaart.","rubriek":"Evenement","locatie_event":56788,"naam_locatie":"","adres":"","stad":"","website":"","telefoon_nummer":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80556"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81534,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80556\/revisions\/81534"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56788"}],"acf:attachment":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80557"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80566"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80563"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80561"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80560"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80558"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80556"},{"taxonomy":"district","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/district?post=80556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}