After making his name with Love on the Left Bank (1956) and Sweet Life (1966) he grew into one of the Netherlands’ most important and well-known post-war photographers. His subjects of choice were the eccentric figures he encountered on his travels around the world, or close to home. He captured them on film with immediacy and genuine interest. In 2019 the Rijksmuseum and the National Museum of Photography acquired circa 8,000 photographs and 3,000 contact sheets which his widow Anneke Hilhorst had kept since his death. The many test prints, designs and experiments provide new insights into Van der Elsken’s way of working.
Getting started with the collection: