Youth Culture

It reveals how wary older generations were of new youth culture. Fashion and music were developing at lightning speed, to the great delight of the post-war generation. Radio stations initially paid little attention to pop music, but the public broadcasters had a change of heart when they were overtaken by pirate radio stations broadcasting from ships in the North Sea. In the 1960s and 70s photographer Ed van der Elsken captured images of rebellious youths and documented rival youth subcultures in Amsterdam. Gerard Wessel and Maya Pejic later followed in his footsteps. Their photographs in the Rijksmuseum collection offer an insight into an evolving youth culture.