Mijn Amsterdam - Ed van der Elsken

Foam invited Martin Parr (photographer, curator and writer) to curate an exhibition of Ed van der Elsken’s photographs of Amsterdam. Parr, who is very much interested by the photographer behind the camera, intends to present not only unknown work of Van der Elsken, but especially the ‘man himself’. Parr’s selection consists of black and white vintage prints from the 1950s through the 1980s, all printed by Van der Elsken himself, some of which where never published or exhibited before. Van der Elsken literally left his personal ‘mark’ on a lot of the vintage material, by making notes and sketches directly on the photos. Parr wants to present these images exactly as they were found in the archives. He also selected some relatively unknown colour photographs from the 1980s. In addition to the photos the exhibition will feature prominently films by Van der Elsken, including some unknown found-footage. Furthermore a short documentary on Van der Elsken, and documents from his private archives will be displayed, such as personal letters of friends and colleagues like Bill Brandt.

Pressetext

Mijn Amsterdam - Ed van der Elsken
Kurator: Martin Parr