Expositie

Ed van der Elsken – Up Close

The Rijksmuseum presents Ed van der Elsken up close, from Amsterdam street scenes to reportages from Cuba and Japan.

Black-and-white photograph of a woman in motion sticking out her tongue, with a blurred street in the background.

In Ed van der Elsken – Up Close, the Rijksmuseum brings the raw energy of Ed van der Elsken close to the viewer. From Amsterdam street scenes to photographs from Cuba and Japan, his work looks directly, curiously and without fuss at people in motion.

The exhibition shows how Van der Elsken approached his subjects and how his photography could be documentary, personal and cinematic at the same time. Familiar images from Amsterdam street life are combined with material from his working process.

Street photography, contact sheets and experiment

Alongside iconic photographs, the exhibition includes handwritten notes, contact sheets and darkroom experiments. Together they present a maker who kept searching for energy, closeness and new ways to tell stories.

The exhibition is on view at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam from 19 June to 13 September 2026, a central stop for anyone visiting Museumplein.

Fotografie.nl also published the Dutch article Ed van der Elsken. Up Close, in het Rijksmuseum.