Posted by Henry Butz on December 03, 2007 at 12:55:47:
Somehow I've wondered off and haven't been shooting as much photography this year. I still have a pile of slides from New England which is still yet untouched by human hands. Those will most likely go into updates for January 2008. To finish up 2007, I have included images of Amsterdam, Netherlands in the Landscape section - last page as well as a few nudes from Amsterdam and New York from this past Summer.
The above photo is a casting embedded into the ground outside Oude Kerk (old church) in the Centraal Red Light District. Some of you are wondering why a sexually suggestive work of art is on the church grounds or why the church is in the Red Light District near where sex workers can be seen most of the day working in the famous windows bathed in red lights. You need to visit this amazing city. As a tourist who has only been there for a week, I can only give you my limited insight into a Utopian culture.
Amsterdam is a city of "Left Door" vs. "Right Door" type of thinking. In strip of stores in the heart of the city there was a left door entering into a Christian bookstore. Two doors to the right was a coffeeshop where marijuana and hash was being sold. While I'm sure there might have been some underlying friction between the two establishments, they both seemed quite peaceful to me on this day. Then again, I'm sure there are people who enter through both doors. It's a city of freedom, personal liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and something which we lack in my country - the ability to tolerate those who hold a different opinion or lifestyle.
With Centraal Station dominating the city, traffic on Nieuwezijds Kolk flows South while Damrak flows North. Both streets are populated with a wide variety of shops and hotels. Traffic sometimes takes the form of automobiles, although pedestrians, bicycles, and trams dominate. Crossing Damrak takes a little getting used to, over the bicycle lane, over the tram tracks without tripping into the automobile lane - then, safe to the other side without as much as a traffic signal. Nieuwezijds Kolk is a bit less congested. Between the two mighty corridors lies Nieuwendijk, a small primarily pedestrian walkway stuffed with shopping outlets, souvenirs, food, and liquor - I say "primarily pedestrian" because there's always room for a bicycle or even a truck making a delivery on this tiny street.
Nieuwezijds Kolk flows South through Dam Square and south of Damstraat where it changes its name to Kalverstraat. I found the shops to the South of Dam Square more interesting and more substantial than those to the North, but that's just a matter of personal preference. It's not a bad walk from North to South, perhaps catch the tram back to Centraal Station if your legs get tired. Google Maps does an excellent job of locating tram stops for you.
From Dam Square, adjacent to the Krasnapolsky Nh Grand Hotel is rather depressing looking street by the name of Warmoesstraat, which looks like an alley behind a row of stores. As you walk further North along Warmoesstraat, it explodes into a collection of shops, bars, coffeeshops, restaurants, and small hotels and hostels. The further North you venture, the more interesting this street becomes until you're swept away into an amazing night life. This is Party Central. If you only visit one street in Amsterdam, this would be it. There is no place like it on the face of the planet. It has everything you are looking for and in seemingly unlimited quantities.
Furtherest North on Warmoesstraat splits off into a small maze of streets, some heading back to the Station, other streets flowing into the Oudezijds Voorburgwal and Oudezijds Achterburgwal, the major streets of the Centraal Red Light District. Here you will find the most amazing architecture, bridges, and canals - by far the prettiest section of the old city. Be careful where you point your camera, tho. The ladies who work in the many illuminated red windows are camera shy. The best photography is at the crack of dawn when the light is perfect, the red windows are dark, and the streets are relatively quiet.
As you venture to the South and West of the city, you will find more peaceful surroundings. You will still see the sparse and scattered red windows with sex workers. Off Van Baerlestraat is the Museum District, including the Van Gogh Museum with an impressive collection of original art. It seems so far and distant from the wild times on Warmoesstraat.
Language - everyone speaks English better than most places in the US. There were tourists from all over the world speaking English and I never had difficulties communicating. The trick is to say, "Hello" first to establish where you are from and what language you are speaking. Then, people will reply back in the same language. I only had a few problems in the grocery store - butter is boter, milk is melk in Dutch. But, I've encountered words like roomboter and karnemelk in the supermarket. Everyone is far more civilized and polite in Amsterdam than New York, so remember to say "Hello" and "Good-bye," speak softly, and just be nice to people.
People tend to round up to the nearest .20 or .50 Euro, so don't always expect change back. Some will make a face if you insist on nickels and dimes back from your Euro. Most of the trams and trains operate on the honor system. Rather than inconveniencing everyone with ticket takers and conductors, you are expected to rise to the level of a responsible citizen and punch your own tram tickets. People speak softly. A softly spoken "Excuse me" or the faint "ding" of a bell on a bicycle is often enough to get people's attention. And, the Dutch girls? Wow. Jeans and tall leather boots with their warm smiles just turns me to mush whenever I have a conversation with a Dutch girl.