AMSTERDAM.- 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 In addition to many familiar and much-loved images, the show includes a large amount of previously unpublished notes, contact prints, darkroom experiments and newly discovered book dummies.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.

"This exhibition offers a surprising and comprehensive picture of Ed van der Elsken’s thoughts, intentions and working methods. It shows that one of the most influential Dutch photographers of the twentieth century was constantly exploring new approaches and techniques to express his distinctive vision of the world."-- Taco Dibbits, General Director Rijksmuseum

Pioneer

Spanning nine galleries, this exhibition highlights the key moments of Ed van der Elsken’s career: from his early work as a photojournalist in the 1950s to the creative process behind his final photobook in the late 1980s. Both the exhibition and the accompanying book demonstrate how he pioneered, experimented, explored, refined, and occasionally doubted – ultimately becoming one of the most important photographers of his generation.

Private archive

The 2019 acquisition of Van der Elsken’s private archive by the Rijksmuseum and the Nederlands Fotomuseum made it possible, for the first time, to conduct in-depth research on the material and to study and present it alongside his work in other public collections.

Inventive visual artist

This detailed look at the creation of his work presents a versatile, sometimes mercurial, but above all inventive visual artist who permanently changed photography in the Netherlands. It also reveals that he would sometimes spend years on a single project or book. Some were never published, but he preserved them for decades, and they are now being shown for the first time. The exhibition is enriched by film clips that feature the photographer’s own voice.





Versatile

The exhibition also documents his travels abroad, including trips to Cuba and Japan. It reveals how Van der Elsken developed his photography, what inspired him, and which techniques he used. The special prints and archival materials testify to the versatility of this idiosyncratic creator.

Book

The accompanying book, Ed van der Elsken. Up Close, is a joint publication of the Rijksmuseum and nai010 publishers. Authored by Hinde Haest, photography curator at the Rijksmuseum, it is available in both Dutch and English editions. The book and the exhibition are designed by Irma Boom Office.