Ed van der Elsken first realized that he wanted to be a photographer when, in 1947, he saw a book of pictures by the American photographer Weegee, Naked City. Weegee and his vision of urban life became a crucial influence on Ed van der Elsken’s work. Like Robert Frank and William Klein, he felt strongly drawn toward the darker side of human existence.

In 1959, armed with commissions from two magazines and from Netherlands TV, Ed van der Elsken and his wife Gerda van der Veen set off on a round-the-world trip that was to last almost a year. He worked in a number of countries in Africa, Asia, and America; his photographs regularly appeared in magazines, and he contributed short films to television programs. Six years after his return, he published a selection of photographs from the trip under the title Sweet Life.

Much of his work subjectively documented his own energetic and eccentric life experience, presaging the work of Larry Clark, Nan Goldin or Wolfgang Tillmans. Ed van der Elsken abolishes the frontiers between the professional and private spheres, and also between photography and real life.

Description: FIRST EDITION – FIRST PRINTING. Hard bound with dust jacket. boards show some foxing near edges and corners. Minor chipping to edges of jacket, andone lage chip to spine edge. Previous owners gift inscription, otherwise very good.

Bookseller Inventory # 10000

SOLD

Sweet Life
Van Der Elsken, Ed

· Category: Sold ·