Ed van der Elsken

Dutch photographer and cineast, born 10 March 1925 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and died 28 December 1990 in Edam, The Netherlands. Ed van der Elsken (1925-1990) - the enfant terrible of Dutch photography - was a talented photographer and filmmaker who expressed his encounters with people through photos, photobooks and films across the span of 40 years. Roaming through cities such as Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Amsterdam or travelling through Africa and Japan, he was primarily drawn to take pictures of striking characters. His first photobook Love on the Left Bank was published in 1956, instantly making him world-famous. Some twenty photobooks followed. He also made several movies for television, mostly about subjects touching upon his personal life. Ed van der Elsken was born in Amsterdam in 1925. From 1950 to 1954, he lived and worked in Paris. During this period, he lived with Ata Kandó and her 3 children. He then moved back to Amsterdam and lived there from 1954 to 1971. He frequently traveled for his work, for instance to Bagara, Central Africa in 1957. In the years 1959-1960, he embarked on an extensive trip around the world with his second wife, Gerda van der Veen. Shortly after this trip, their two children Tinelou and Daan were born. During his many travels, Ed van der Elsken made colour photo reportages for the monthly magazine Avenue. From 1971 until the end of his life, he lived in the countryside near Edam with Anneke Hilhorst and their son John. Throughout this period, he often worked in Amsterdam and traveled to Japan. In 1988 he was diagnosed with cancer. He died in 1990.