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Amsterdam Street Photography captures Mokum's swagger
Street photographer Michael van Oostende selected the most moving and endearing images from his extensive oeuvre of street photos of Amsterdam for his photo book Amsterdam Street Photography.
In 2000, he had to give up his profession as a taxi driver for health reasons. His lifebuoy was a colleague who told him that he had all kinds of attributes for a darkroom for sale. Michael made an offer, acquired the items and set up a dark room in the attic. There he developed the rolls of film that he shot with images from the city in the 1980s. There are now more than fifty thousand. Around the turn of the century, he exchanged his analog camera for a digital version, giving wings to his passion.
Michael developed his own style in which he combined the raw edges of the city with beauty and an eye for the human condition.
Sunday morning
“Each photo tells a story that you can add and complete yourself. What preceded it? What happened next? “That completes the look of an image because you are invited to come up with an imaginative frame for it yourself.”
Sometimes he works thematically when he photographs homeless people, for example, but feminine beauty also attracts the attention of his observant eye. “And of course the light,” he says emphatically. “That's why I like to go out early on Sunday mornings to see the city blossom in peace and quiet. Even when it is foggy it adds a mysterious dimension.”
Broad spectrum
His oeuvre is a blend of loneliness, exuberance, sadness and joy, in short, a summary of life itself. His sense of drama gives every photo an emotional charge. It chains the viewer's eye to a reality that raises questions that you can answer yourself. The Mokum swagger of Michael van Oostende is captured in a broad spectrum of images that characterize the character of the capital.
Amsterdam Street Photography is an ode to the capital in all its facets, sometimes rough, sometimes moving but always impressive.
Selected Highlights
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