Ed van der Elsken. Up Close

June 19, – September 13, 2026, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Ed van der Elsken, Street artist in Paris c. 1951 (printed before 1959). Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Long term loan from Anneke Hilhorst, Warder, 2019. © Ed van der Elsken estate/Nederlands Fotomuseum

"The groundbreaking street photography of Ed van der Elsken takes visitors on a journey through postwar Netherlands, with images of a cyclist sticking out her tongue defiantly, three smiling young women in miniskirts and a group of tough youths on the corner of Amsterdam’s Nieuwendijk. Years of research into his private archive have yielded a new and detailed perspective on the creation of his work. In addition to many familiar and much-loved images, the show includes a large amount of previously unpublished notes, contact prints, darkroom experiments and newly discovered book dummies. Ed van der Elsken. Up Close features photographs from the collections of the Rijksmuseum, the Nederlands Fotomuseum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Leiden University Libraries, as well as film footage from the EYE Film Museum. The exhibition will run from 19 June to 13 September 2026".

Courtesy of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.