Director Jan Bosdriesz made a documentary about Ed van der Elsken’s color film and photography. Van der Elsken is best known for his black-and-white street photography from the previous century. His color work received less attention and may have remained underappreciated over the years.
In the short documentary Lust for Life, P.S. from the Afterlife , Van der Elsken himself speaks at length. Among other things, he explains how art can be “a little mold on your life.” The documentary paints a compelling picture of Van der Elsken’s passion for color photography and film, his fascination with their possibilities, and his unconventional way of working.
The film premiered on Monday, June 10, at LantarenVenster in Rotterdam and was available through NPO Extra and 2doc.nl. At the time, the Nederlands Fotomuseum presented Lust for Life: the first retrospective of Ed van der Elsken’s color work.
Director Jan Bosdriesz is known for Black Eyes, 2008, and Metamorphosis: M.C. Escher, 1999.
Van der Elsken: “Personal photography is very peculiar. So close to my own life. Yes, I have sometimes said: it is an excrescence, a mold on life. Sometimes I’m in my car and you see beautiful skies, beautiful clouds. And then you think, ‘If only I had a wide-angle camera with me with fine-grain film, I’d quickly capture it.’ That duality of finding things beautiful, like everyone else, and then realizing that you can photograph them too. That. Curious.”
Ed van der Elsken
Ed van der Elsken, the “enfant terrible” of Dutch photography, was a talented photographer and filmmaker who portrayed his encounters with people in photographs, photo books, and films for more than forty years. Roaming through cities such as Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam, he preferred to point his camera at distinctive and striking individuals.
In 1956, he debuted with his photo book Love on the Left Bank, which instantly brought him international fame. More than twenty photo books followed, including his first major color book, Eye Love You, partly based on his travels to places such as Cuba, South Africa, Chile, and Tanzania. He also made several television films, often about his own life, as well as Amsterdam subjects such as Poverty, Bicycles, and Dylaby at the Stedelijk Museum.
Premiere: Monday, June 10, LantarenVenster, Rotterdam
