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…

You may remember this post from last fall, Le Grand Départ, in which I showcased my lovely Lauren, leaving the house & getting on her bicycle. Simple, mundane but beautiful. To me, anyway.

To recap, she dressed (up) for the occasion/destination (a night out with friends/cafes, clubs), stepped out, unlocked her bike, walked her bike to the bridge and set off. It was a beautiful evening, not too cold, no wind, all perfect to enjoy the ride, even more than usual that month.

Fast forward to a week ago. One nasty Saturday. Cold, heavy winds, non-stop rain, a real downpour. Now, to show you more than one side of the coin, here’s an updated version of that series: ‘Le Grand Départ…quand il pleut’ (The Grand Departure…when it rains).

Where she was going, you ask? Again a social occasion: a bachelorette party, which required her to go all over town and take all kinds stuff with her. She dressed to a T once again…the only thing different was she put on my rain coat. “Way too big, but it is way more practical”, she said.

Hence her smiling, despite the rain. :)

The Red Light District is usually chuck full of people. Afternoons, evenings and nights. Only the mornings are really ‘owned’ by the residents…while visitors execute their much-needed REM-sleep.

Understandably, with rain tourists on two feet flee into the nearest establishments and have a beer or two. That’s when I step out to have a stroll around the hood. On this particular night I walked through a light drizzle, intermissions of a few heavier drops, but no wind and a nice temperature. Anyhoo, a perfect moment to set the camera to ‘no flash’ and on a low shutter speed.

It’s a photo mood exercise, not a critique on people on bikes not having working lights. They are adults and I’m not with the police…or finger-wagging crowd. Just so you know. ‘Turn On The Red Light‘, just an obvious play on words.

This week David Hembrow made the case that bicycle paths make rain more pleasant.

Being away from motor vehicles in bad weather has a number of advantages. For a start, you have no concerns about “not being seen” by drivers whose vision is obscured by rain, spray or mist. You also remain drier because you are not hit by spray or splashed water from puddles. And you also don’t ride over spilled diesel or broken glass from cars.

Never thought of that this way, but yeah, he has a point. One aspect he doesn’t touch on is that rain comes and goes in NL, quite literally. This being a given, as a consequence many will just adapt the easiest (aka most convenient) way: a rain jacket, sometimes a cape, often an umbrella.

With strong winds (the real culprit over here) you’ll see amusing scenes, but the Dutch are pretty pragmatic, if it works, great, if not, so be it. If you can do it walking, you can do it cycling. Moving on.

The latter bewilders visitors often:

I have to say: after seeing it in so many photos (and once when I was actually in Amsterdam), I tried the umbrella+cycling thing. It did not work!! How do you guys do it? Only my hair was dry when I got home – and I had a huge umbrella. I guess I need more practice..

Anyway, rain can’t really be an excuse not to cycle. You get wet and you dry up again. “You’re not made of sugar” comes to mind :). Mais oui, it helps living in the Bicycle Capital of the World, where thousands upon thousands of fellow citizens, young and old, show every day it’s not an obstacle at all.

Last week Amsterdam celebrated its 15th Gay Pride, the theme being…’Celebrate’. Not at all redundant, when you consider the recent acts of violence on gays in the city. Yes, even in Amsterdam. The week’s events were more numerous and diverse than ever and they draped the city in pink, easily eclipsing the Giro d’Italia :). Parties, workshops, contests, art, you name it, it was there. It’s what this city desperately needs, in a time of Disneyfication and bourgeoisie, imho.

We woke up to a very wet and thus dreary Saturday, the day of the…THE Canal Parade. You’d think that would spoil the fun. Not so much. Sure, 380.000 onlookers instead of the usual half a million, that’s easy to understand, but as a party…ahum, Celebration, the scenes could easily have transpired in Rio-like conditions.

The other parade, the parade of people on bikes in Amsterdam, meanwhile, moved on, steadily. As it does on a daily basis.

If only there was no need for a Gay Pride, just like there’s no need for Critical Mass in Amsterdam, where everyone on two wheels (and more) is regarded equal, that we would just be the people we want to be. Rain or shine.

Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to other kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth’s surface.

Activate frown to shelter eyes & in case you occupy the passenger seat: make good use of the rider’s back

Lean forward, hide your chin in your scarf. For psychosomatic reasons, at least one part of the body needs a dry simulation to feel some comfort

On Earth, it is the condensation of atmospheric water vapor into drops of water heavy enough to fall, often making it to the surface. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated leading to rainfall: cooling the air or adding water vapour to the air.

Hat flaps come in handy when priorities shift & standard issue ‘urban rain gear‘ a la Amsterdam in his tracks. Argumentation: if you can walk it, you can cycle it.

Virga is precipitation that begins falling to the earth but evaporates before reaching the surface; it is one of the ways air can become saturated. Precipitation forms via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Rain drops range in size from oblate, pancake-like shapes for larger drops, to small spheres for smaller drops.

You cycle, it rains, you get wet, you dry up. End of story.*

*Tongue firmly planted in cheek*