Cycling Amsterdam Ed van der Elsken Hans van der Meer Photography

Cycling in Amsterdam

A Photo Essay by Harold Olejarz
www.olejarz.com

Bicyclists in Amsterdam are not outfitted with the protective layers of glass and steel provided by automobiles. There is no armor that prevents other cyclists, pedestrians, or photographers for that matter, from seeing their clothing or witnessing the changes in their expressions as events and emotions cycle through the minds and bodies of the cyclists and their passengers.

The people riding the more than 700,00 bicycles in Amsterdam may be young or old. They may be fashionably dressed, dressed for business or casually attired. Many are locals going to or from work, shopping, visiting or taking the children and the dog out for a ride. Locals may have standard bicycles but many have jump seats for babies in front and back or baskets for children, dogs and/or packages. Tourists travel about in packs or pairs, many with maps in hand. They ride on brightly colored bicycles that advertise any of a number of businesses that rent bikes by the day or week.

On visiting Amsterdam I was struck by the number and the diversity of the people cycling. Whether local or tourist, the cyclists in Amsterdam do an amazing number of things while riding. Living in the New Jersey suburbs I may see packs of cyclists decked out in their riding outfits on weekends or a few kids cruising the neighborhood or riding to or from school. In Amsterdam I saw people riding bicycles that I could never imagine on a bike in New Jersey or New York. I caught glimpses of the expressions on their faces that automobiles insulate. The images in this series are about those people.