THE HAGUE (The Netherlands) • Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum last Friday unveiled a set of long-lost pictures taken around the 1950s by Dutch master lensman Ed van der Elsken, considered one of the last century's most influential photographers.
Van der Elsken was famous for his raw street-style photography of daily life in Amsterdam.
The newly discovered photo book contains some 134 never-before-seen images of subjects ranging from ordinary people to poets and royals.
The unfinished work was discovered after Van der Elsken's widow Anneke Hilhorst transferred his estate to the Rijksmuseum and the Rotterdam-based Nederlands Photo Museum last year.
Van der Elsken died in 1990 at 65.
"For the curators, this marked the beginning of their research into the Van der Elsken working archive, comprising 11,000 objects," the Rijksmuseum said in a statement.
"One of many surprises was the mock-up design of a photo book that Van der Elsken compiled in roughly the same period that he was working on his magnum opus, Sweet Life."
Called "feest" in Dutch, which means "feast", the unpublished book contains pictures of carnivals, birthday parties, renowned Belgian poet Hugo Claus and royalty.
A photo of Queen Elizabeth II, taken at a banquet at the historic Ridderzaal (Hall of Knights) in The Hague in 1958, shows the British regent with her husband Prince Philip on a state visit, together with Dutch Queen Juliana and her husband Prince Bernard.
Hailing the discovery, Rijksmuseum director Taco Dibbits said the book captured the period from the 1950s to the early 1960s.
Van der Elsken "was one of the first photographers in the 1950s who endlessly walked the streets and captured life in his own raw style", added Rijksmuseum curator Hans Rooseboom.
His style inspired generations of top Dutch photographers, including Anton Corbijn, who is famous for his portraits of celebrities, and Ilvy Njiokiktjien.
"I think one of the main things that I take from his work is that it can be really amazing (capturing the daily lives of people)," Njiokiktjien, who was named official Dutch National Photographer in 2013 for her work, told Agence France-Presse.
"It's in the daily lives of people where we connect," she added.
The photo book will be displayed in an exhibition called Ed Van Der Elsken: A Crazy World, which opens at the Rijksmuseum this Friday.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
