I photographed myself in deserted Amsterdam. Iconic Amsterdam without the noise of people only my isolated self. I put the 60 pictures together in a montage of 2 minutes. A bird’s eye view of Amsterdam. The music under the video is by Bernard Zweers who wrote a piece of theatre music at the end of the 19th century for a performance of “Gijsbrecht van Aemstel” (1637) by Vondel. Vondel begins that Amsterdam play with the words:
“The celestial court has taken a long lecture
Have mercy on me and my stuffy vests
And poor bourgeoisie, and at my folk prayer
And every day the frightened city screams out.”
As far as I’m concerned 4 rules that are very striking for the tightness in which we live within the fortresses of Amsterdam at the moment. A frightened city waiting to be horrified. Hence the music of Zweers and the first picture in front of the statue of Vondel.
by Arnout van Krimpen