The first photographs of Amsterdam, 1845-1875
The City Archives have another great exhibition running until June. It features the earliest examples of street photography in Amsterdam. This is a picture of photographer Jacob Olie’s family in front of their house at Zandhoek 10 in the painfully scenic Westerlijke Eilanden. The children and the dog obviously did not have the patience to sit still and are therefore immortalised as ghosts. This street remains pretty much unchanged to this day. But back in the Golden Age days, this was where people came to pick up sand (zand) whenever their property started to sink. It is said that many a riot occurred here during sand shortages. I guess people get panicky whenever their homes threaten to return to the bog from whence it came. Anyway you can download a tour along the settings of these photographs here.
