As you might have heard through the grapevine, not so long ago I was busy creating the film ‘Cycling For Everyone’ that officially launched & introduced the Dutch Cycling Embassy.

It was quite the process. Challenged by a very tight time frame before it was supposed to be presented (at the Dutch Embassy in Brussels during the Smart2Wheels Forum), I was scrambling to put both a team together and plan things accordingly.

The weather forecast wasn’t very promising. But we struck some much needed luck; nice temperature, mostly sunny and just a ‘bit’ of wind.

Of course this project was right up my sleeve. Amsterdamize has grown into something solid (albeit, I really need to catch up on posting affairs), I have years of experience in online marketing & particularly in combination with video, I’m no stranger to the historical context of things and I like to think Amsterdamize has contributed to the idea of this embassy :).

I managed to put together a great team. The creative, subtle & insightful camera skills of Erwan van Buuren, the charming presence of my friend Mi-Ah Roediger as ‘Girl On Bike’, production assistence by Reuben Hamburger and the smooth editing of one of my best friends and film director Gabe Bauer.

On day 1 we shot scenes in Amsterdam:
At the Workcycles shop…

At the underground bike parking garage (of which there are many) at Zuid WTC train station…

At the Apollolaan/Stadionweg junction, where we were often blocking people going from A to B…

Contrary to common use & customs, we sometimes put the Omafiets in the back of the van…

…to get to the infamous Nescio bicycle bridge (of British design(!)) on time, that connects Amsterdam suburb Diemen with IJburg…

Day 2 had us:
Shooting the morning rush hour on De Lairessestraat/Jacob Obrechtstraat, dominated by the school run…

Then we moved to the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat/Prinsengracht area, which included a stop-at-a-shop scene that I ended up not using…

On to Houten for the train station’s ‘Fietstransferium‘ and junction scenes…

And at the end of that busy day we moved our equipment to the majestic Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam. Unfortunately, these scenes were entirely cut from the film, due to playtime constraints.

On day 3 I had to fly to Reykjavik to be a keynote speaker at a cycling conference organized by the Icelandic Cyclists Federation (on which I’ll post soon), so the crew went ahead and worked with my instructions. And they did great, filming a tongue-in-cheek scene with a representative of the Fietsersbond (Cyclists Union) & their ‘measure bike’ and putting academics at ‘work’ at the ITC of Twente University.

Luckily (for you), I had also reminded myself to shoot a few videos along the way, for a modest ‘behind-the-scenes’ edit:

As traditions go, I also couldn’t resist assembling the footage we either didn’t use (as I said, often you have to ‘kill your darlings’) or cut it up beyond recognition. Hence: here are the outtakes. Warning: it’s almost 24 minutes long ;).

Oh, and of course, here’s the final product of all our efforts: Cycling For Everyone. Enjoy, if you haven’t already :).

And thanks to all who helped spreading this video, the counter now stands at over 45.000 views on Vimeo & the Dutch Cycling Embassy received a very warm welcome on Twitter and all the blogs!

Here are the YouTube links of two of them:
- Cycling For Everyone
- Cycling For Everyone – Behind The Scenes

And here’s the complete Cycling For Everyone photo set.

Top photo: A female traffic police officer directs traffic at a zebra crossing. Amsterdam, December 1955.

One of the photo streams I subscribe to on Flickr is that of IISG, the International Institute of Social History:

The International Institute of Social History is the largest documentation and research centre in the world in the field of social history. Since it was established in 1935, the institute has focused its efforts on collecting, retaining and making available the heritage of social movements worldwide. The institute is independent and trustworthy, and is thus a natural repository for the cultural heritage of the workers’ movement and other emancipatory groups and movements that are often under threat. The research department of the institute focuses on the history of labour relations and organizes international projects in this field. The collection (archives, library and audiovisual materials) occupies approximately 50 km of shelf space. The IISH is an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (‘Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen’(KNAW)).

IISG regularly posts selections of material on Flickr, often in line with current news, such as a vintage collections of posters railing against the introduction/use/expansion of nuclear power (aka the sentiment now doing the rounds with regards to Japan).

IISG’s Flickr collection may not be vast, but it serves its purpose; making invaluable documentation available to the public & trigger interest to make use of its online catalogue and/or visit the institute. The latter is now on my bucket list. ;)

Let me share a few examples from a collection of photo sets, all taken by (the late) award winning photo journalist & co-founder of World Press Photo Ben van Meerendonk.

I picked the post-war era, roughly from 1946 to 1955, particularly interesting because the German occupiers had confiscated most of the people’s bikes & with the rebuilding progress came the rise of the automobile. These sets give great insight in the everyday urban environment, in which you can easily spot the problems that would lay ahead.

The first photo set in question is ‘Jobs‘. From it I picked the ones in which the job related to bicycles, visa versa & otherwise.

Left: Man working at the bicycle parking shed is suffering from the cold, February 20th 1948, Amsterdam. Right: Fireman with hose nozzle on a bicycle, at the Blue Bridge over the Amstel River, July 1947.

Plastic bicycle by inventor Keijzer, Eerste Jan Steenstraat, November 19th 1952.

Left: Woman receives a citation for cycling without working lights, Nieuwe Nieuwstraat, Amsterdam, November 21st 1952. Right: Police check for bicycle light, Amsterdam, 1946.

Left: Traffic ‘action’, the police checks ’slow traffic’. On the left a knife sharpener. Vijzelstraat, Amsterdam, March 1948. Right: Police checks ’slow traffic’, Vijzelstraat corner of Herengracht, Amsterdam, March 1948.

Left: Nurse with bicycle, Amsterdam, September 27th 1951. Right: American girls assemble bicycles, Amsterdam, July 1st 1953.

Left: Peasant woman with milk buckets on yoke on her bicycle, Walcheren, Zeeland, 1946. Right: Milkman with cargo bike full of milk bottles, Amsterdam, September 24th 1953.

A random selection from different sets with people on bicycles, in traffic & other captured moments:

Left: Traffic exam for scouts, Oosterparkstraat, corner of Linnaeusstraat, October 22nd 1949. Right: Muntplein, September 23rd 1958.

Traffic on Haarlemmerstraat, Amsterdam, November 5 1947.

Traffic chaos on Muntplein, Amsterdam, September 23rd 1958.

Demonstration by pawnbrokers and merchants, March 21st 1951.

Left: Spuistraat, October 13th 1950. Right: Racing car, October 1st 1950.

Start of the election bicycle parade for the Communist Party Netherlands (CPN) youth, from Waterlooplein, Amsterdam, July 1 1948.

Intersection Paleisstraat / Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, Amsterdam, June 30th 1947.

An English cab overtakes a postal worker on a cargo bike, Jan Luijkenstraat, Amsterdam, November 27th 1952.

Protest on the street against exhibition ‘Greek Photos’, Museum Fodor on Keizersgracht, December 29th 1948.

Woman on bicycle carrying her child on her back, Juni 29th 1953.

Little boy is riding his mini racing bike, guided by his father, Sarphatistraat, Amsterdam, July 13 1949.

The little elephant Murugan practices for the upcoming official parade (June 4th 1955), Weesperstraat, April 20th 1955.

I’ll try and make this is an ongoing series. It only requires some research ;).

Enjoy this video. As David Hembrow noted:

“The remarkable thing about it is how familiar all of it looks. There’s exactly the same level of cycle helmet wearing as in the country now, roughly the same number of people riding on back carriers, children on bikes, “ordinary clothes”, practical bikes and smiling faces.”

You think these people were talking about ‘going green’ or ’saving the planet’? Nah…so, what other reasons could there be? :-p.

Found through NewAmsterdamize, via David Hembrow.

Top photo: “2 cyclistes français circa 1900 – The bicycles appear to be fine samples of the day. The young men display a certain pride of their possessions. (French provenance purchase)”

And Thomas A. Edison had a keen eye for trends and someone else eventually put his footage together in a montage.