In NYC I hooked up with professional photographer Dmitry Gudkov of BikeNYC Portraits fame. As it often goes, we found out about each other’s existence through the interwebs, given our mutual interest for people on bicycles, bike culture & photography. Subsequently, it was an even bigger pleasure meeting him in real life.

It took some time for me to do this post, but now it’s even more relevant, as Dmitry’s efforts were put in the lime light as a feature on the Flickr blog this week. Greatly deserved & no small thing, when you consider Flickr has millions and millions of photographs to choose from.

From the middle of Soho we rode towards the Hudson shore, where Dmitry was keen on finding a nice spot to take my #bikeNYC Portrait, as he’d insisted on via Twitter ;).

He lead us to Pier 54, in front of the High Line.

Dmitry started his art direction, I positioned myself behind my Workcycles Omafiets (which Julie from Adeline Adeline was so nice to let me borrow for the weekend), fiddled with my bag for #bikeAMS exposure, and this was the result:

Dmitry still owes me the picture of me lifting my Omafiets over my head, in true hipster style…you know, just to bust another myth about Dutch bikes ;).

We continued our ride on the Hudson Greenway and a few minutes later I spotted something familiar up ahead on the bike path: a black Dutch granny bike, a long haired woman riding it, in normal clothes, without a ‘magic mushroom’.

To Dmitry: “Look, I think that’s a Dutch girl.” “Yeah?” I immediately shift into gear: “Let’s catch up, go go go!”

I passed her, turned around and said: “You MUST be Dutch!” “Huh?” She had music on, so took out her earplugs. “Sorry?” “You MUST be Dutch!” Haha, no, I’m Danish!” “Ohhhh, so close!”

There was nothing left for her to do than stop and have a chat with us. We introduced ourselves and the reason for chasing after her. It turned out her name was Carina Jensen, a Danish expat living and working as a video journalist in NYC. Coincidently, she was hired to cover the New Amsterdam Bike Show that would take place the next day.

Dmitry wasted no time and asked if he could take her bicycle portrait. Of course he could. And of course I captured that process.

Dmitry could appreciate the humor of it a few days later:

His #bikeNYC Portrait catch:

Together we rode back into town, chatting up a storm.

Just so you know what all that stalking looks like, here’s another ‘behind the lens’ moment, me photographing alongside Carina & then spotting Dmitry taking a picture of me…and shooting that. ;)

A perfect start of my NYC weekend, a great time with new-found friends. We went our separate ways, into the city jungle, with the knowledge that we would see each other again the following days. My cliffhanger for the upcoming posts…

Last week I was on my way to Foam, the photography museum on Keizersgracht, to go on a guided tour of the exhibition ‘Set Amsterdam‘ by Dana Lixenberg.

I had 10 minutes to spare, so figured I could shoot a few pics of people on bikes & how they were dealing with the rain and heavy winds that had come upon us.

The tour was supposed to be led by Paul Marbus, location scout for the popular Dutch tv series ‘A’dam & E.V.A’ (Adam & Eva / Amsterdam & And Many Others), but he called in sick and the tour topic changed to ‘Antiphotojournalism‘. I had been looking forward to hearing more about the visual backgrounds of this show, as its main character is the city of Amsterdam, so this was quite a bummer.

Here’s the trailer for ‘A’dam & E.V.A.’:

Every day our lives cross that of dozens, maybe hundreds of others, other people we don’t know: incidently passing by, people from the same neighborhood, shop keepers, complete strangers, a voice at the other end of the line, young, old, closeby or at a distance. Our existence continuously touches that of others. Often there’s nothing particular that happens; we just happen to be close, at the same time and at the same place, to then disappear from each other’s lives forever.

The series’ season ended a month ago, I had never watched it on tv, so I resorted to the internet archives. I was blown away. So clever, so nice, so compelling and so true to form. The reason I got to this show was that Marco (the author of Muenchenierung) and I did a presentation about marketing (cycling) at the Agora Symposium, and he’d picked this video as a prime example of co-promotion. (Marco was also the one who tipped me about the photography tour).

Back to Foam: ‘Antiphotojournalism’ was very impressive, moving and interesting as a viewing excercise (being the news buff that I am), but it was not what I came for. Dana’s photos of humanless interiors in Amsterdam were beautiful and I was able to put them in the right context, but Paul’s presence was needed. All in all, I was glad I went.

Before exiting the building I bought the spring issue of Foam magazine, themed ‘Happy’.

Its feature article starts with:

What is the fundamental nature of happiness? Is it a mood, an emotion, or simply a series of agreeable events? Are there different kinds of happiness and what characterizes a pleasant and satisfying life? And, of course, how can we achieve a state of supreme happiness? Perplexing questions indeed.

It explores the cultural and economical aspects that so popularly define ‘hapiness’, states different surveys and looks at the question through the prisms of different photographers, sprinkled with famous quotes on the subject:

To be truly happy and contented, you must let go of what it means to be happy or content. – Confucius.

Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. – Albert Schweitzer.

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads? – Albert Camus.

For me it is easy. My two-wheeled friend lifts more obstacles between myself & happiness than I can count. I just have to remind myself of it occasionally.

Then I read this…

I’m not an extraordinarily gifted photographer, but in my own world I can completely relate to what drives & inspires Scott Schumann, aka ‘the Sartorialist‘.

I like his approach. Simple, honest, no unnecessary thrills, but a keen eye for his in-the-moment subject & the setting. His photos of people on bicycles are of equal quality. I should add ‘naturally’, as these aren’t even a different genre, only a charming additive.

The late Ed van der Elsken, a street photographer / filmmaker from Amsterdam, is my absolute hero. The following sequence of two pictures boils down what he was about:

He was known for being a ‘man of the people’, a bit quirky, a bit of a clown. Following people in the streets, teasing, interjecting, his lens dancing around them, not unlike a performance artist…with either a photo or film camera. His films where often mesmerizing, ‘Fietsen’ (‘Bicycles’ or ‘Cycling’), shot in 1965, is up there with the best & saves me from using more words to describe him & do him justice:

Through two and a half years of Amsterdamize I’ve lived to experience (recognize) a few moments that I’d like to describe as ‘Eddies‘, either being the ‘voyeur’ of private moments in the public domain or me in turn acknowledged by my subjects. I treasure them & they inspire me to keep looking out for the obvious, which often reveals a thing of beauty…& a thousand words.

People (on bicycles), they’re a gift that keeps on giving.

On Saturday Nov 14 I took part in the (second) Snap The City event, a coming together of photography enthusiasts…snapping the city with just smart phones & only allowed to edit/enhance the photos on the device. Not just that: assignments had to be given by followers/fans (mostly through Twitter) and we needed to complete 5 of them.

Allocated time: 2 hours. Our domain: the Red Light District. Ha, a home game for me ;). I took to the streets with @CHADINAMSTERDAM.

My first assignment was sent in by my buddy @bicyclemark, before Snap The City had even officially started: “Show me a street vendor, any kind will do.” Top photo, meet Theo, from Amsterdam-Noord. I got to talk to him for half an hour, a real pleasure as he was a genuine Amsterdammer (8th generation) and a keen observer & admirer of this city’s history. We’re going to continue where we left off next time, for sure.

The second assignment was webcast by @IcycleMEL from Melbourne, Australia: “I want to see a hooker on a bike.” Predictable, obviously tricky too…nah, an easy one if you happen to know a ’short-cut’ :). Third assignment: “Red shoes” by @LoveToPedal from Dallas, Texas.

@Bicyclemark came through once more: “A picture of a window”

@LeoVerdonck from Amstelveen & Knokke (Belgium) requested “Bikes & bags”. I figured ‘Bikes & Boxes’ would fit/be allowed too. An employee from the infamous Nieuwmarkt fish shop had just parked on Zeedijk for a fresh delivery.

Not 1 minute later, I captured a proper “Bikes & Bags”.

@Bicyclemark helped me out further with “Show the youngest & the oldest person wandering the Red Light District”. I caught the latter, with the first I had passed up on some candidates, figuring I’d be able to snap a really young individual, as that’s quite common in my hood, there being a kindergarten and all. I #failed :).

@thisjay requested “Someone on a bike with flowers”. I got someone on a bike, waiting for her bouquet at the flower stand on Nieuwmarkt.

And finally, my sweetheart @lstitle tweeted to help me out: “Someone carrying someone”. I do that topic well.

Suffice to say, it was good fun & a nice exercise. Looking forward to the next one.

At first last weekend looked to be a dreary one. Cold, a thick fog and a tedious drizzle. The rain moved away, the grey blanket stayed put. Doing my cycle rounds in the city I quickly realized this could be the perfect time to switch my camera to monochrome. I wasn’t disappointed.

‘Giggle’

‘A bachelorette party spotted me’

‘Inter-Cycle-Section’

‘Ta-Di-Da’ & ‘Underestimated Temps’

‘Wheels & Silhouettes’

‘Shop’ & ‘Doucement’

‘Decisive Moment’

‘Men Can MT’ & ‘Style’

‘Smile’

‘Smooch’ & ‘Hm?’

‘Time Is Relevant’

‘Double Energizer’ & ‘Fwd’

‘De Blauwe Duim / The blue Thumb’

It was all thumbs up.

Today I received an e-mail telling me I’ve won the Bicycle Mania Photo Contest. It won’t come as a surprise when I tell you this really made my day. A bit of background information on Bicycle Mania (via Bakfiets-en-meer):

Every fan and promoter of urban cycling simply needs a copy of Shirley Agudo’s “Bicycle Mania”. You can regard it as a photo book, with probably the best collection of Dutch cycling photos ever assembled. Even as an Amsterdam resident and amateur(ish) photographer I marvel at the shots in these pages. Have a peek at a few examples here at the Eduard Planting gallery.

But “Bicycle Mania” goes much deeper. The photos are accompanied by well-informed and thoughtfully written text covering in sections covering the how and why the Dutch have achieved (and continue to build upon) the world’s best of nearly everything in transportation cycling: broad popularity, amazing infrastructure, safety, fun and pure variety on wheels. The text is in both English and Dutch, handy learning for those anglophiles who want to delve deeper into Dutch cycling culture than English can take you. Numerous authorities are interviewed, hyperbole and abuse of statistics is thankfully avoided and and it’s just a good read. In a nutshell: Recommended.

The photo I entered: ‘Family Cycle Train’, from the photo set ‘Saturday Cycle Modes‘.

As of today ‘Family Cycle Train’ is displayed in the window of The American Book Center in Amsterdam (Spui 12) and The Hague (Lange Poten 23). It will also be published in the next issue of The XPat Journal magazine (March 2010).

And of course the grand prize: a special edition Workcycles Secret Service and a copy of the book Bicycle Mania. I will read the book and Lauren will ride the bike ;).

It really made my day. Honored and proud. I think I will make one or two stops downtown and in the Jordaan today :).

Update: you gotta love the internetz, @IkbendAF (a contact on Twitter) already went by the store and took this picture:

Not only did Shirley Agudo’s book beat me to the punch, now a fan does too ;).

Disclosure: as you know I have a close relationship with Workcycles, call it ‘a fan, based on customer experience, but Henry was not on the jury, he ‘just’ sponsored this contest.

For quite some time now I’ve been dealing with three frustrations:

• Not enough time/energy/inspiration to post more frequently
• Missing my Nikon, having to wait for the arrival of a new one
• Missing my HDD videocamera, which also died on me.

The first is in large part the result of the 2nd and 3rd, as I’m stuck with the now quickly degenerating camera on my mobile phone.

Ok, that was me moping and feeling miserable. Now to the good part. There are more people like me in Amsterdam, loving this city and shooting it up from all kinds of angles, no matter the camera. I present you with two of my favorites:

AmsterS@m – The Wicked Reflectah
“Reflections of Amsterd@m, the best city in the world :). Most of the pictures in this set are shot with mobile phones. I don’t use Photoshop or any other ‘magic’ software to create the wickedness of my puddle reflections :)”

Marjon of Iam sterdam (inspired by Amsterdamize)

Love it. Now, let’s see if I can manage to keep my cell phone alive in the next 30 days, because this ‘humanity in motion’ thing is going to get far too interesting to miss out on.

Before venturing into town today, I borrowed my dad’s camera, a Nikon D70, three awesome lenses included. For the camera geeks among you: 18-70mm, 28-200mm, 70-300mm.

As I’m a bloke, I went straight for the last one. Ok, also because I wanted to give myself more time, a bigger window of opportunity to capture scenes that usually are out of my compact camera’s reach.

I won’t bore you with how I approached my subjects or fiddled with the buttons…because I didn’t. I just put it on automatic and let this SLR work its magic. Every now and then I would rewind and see what I had shot, already amazed, but only after loading them up to my computer I could really appreciate the sheer brilliance of this machine. ‘Holy cow’ and ‘No way’ are only a few of the things I uttered.

My dad heard them too and was happy I liked it so much, so he wanted me to have it.

Being a bicycle nut certainly is rewarding.

Speaking of nuts…there are 157 pictures in the ‘Humanity In Motion’ photo set. Or see below and toggle for full screen viewing. If you have the time, that is ;).