Eduard van der Elsken (10 March 1925 – 28 December 1990) was a Dutch photographer and filmmaker. His imagery provides quotidian, intimate and autobiographic perspectives on the European zeitgeist spanning the period of the Second World War into the 1970s in the realms of love, sex, art, music (particularly jazz), and alternative culture. He described his camera as 'infatuated', and said: "I'm not a journalist, an objective reporter, I'm a man with likes and dislikes". His style is subjective and emphases the seer over the seen; a photographic equivalent of first-person speech.
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Emotionally raw photographic journey that captures a world in flux, blending joy and struggle through high-contrast, dynamic images taken during a 14-month global voyage.
The rural life of Central African communities in the 1950s through vivid, high-contrast images, bridging humanist empathy with a raw, unfiltered perspective on cultural resilience.
The raw, atmospheric essence of Amsterdam’s jazz scene through moody, high-grain photography that reflects the genre’s spontaneous energy.
The bohemian underworld of post-war Paris, blending narrative and photography to explore existential youth rebellion and fleeting love.
Books
Sweet Life (Books on Books)
(Errata Editions, 2012)
Ed Van Der Elsken (0000)
(Phaidon, 2002)
Ed van der Elsken: Fotografie
(Hatje Cantz, 2000)
Ed van der Elsken: La cámara enamorada (Spanish Edition)
(Fundación Mapfre, 2018)
Ed van der Elsken: Jazz
(Edition 7L, 2007)
Bagara. Photographs of Equatorial Africa
(Hassell Street Press, 2021)
Jazz 1955 - 1959.61
(Nieswand, 1992)
Jazz: Fotos 1955-1961
(Fragment, 1991)
Jazz | Ed van der Elsken 1955 - 1959.61
(Libroport Co., 1988)
Love on the Left Bank
(Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2002)
Ed Van Der Elsken - Looking For Love On The Left Bank
(Aman Iman Publishing, 2013)