Café taste

In the collection of Stedelijk museum Amsterdam is a work of Edward Keinholz, the Beanery (1965). It has influenced many youngsters their view on bars forever. At young age I could sit there for a while in the fading scent of beer, listening to a murmling radio surrounded by fellow guests with clocks as head. Years later I would still absorb the atmospheer in bars. A few scenes I have sketched with ink and paper. Many years later the digital aged opened up the possibility to experiment with snapshots in dark environment. Somehow those photo's never seemed to come even close to represent ambiance. Some scenes /subjects are better left to old ink and paper technique while others are better of in photo.

This café photo serie is made during my study at photo academy. I wanted to see how far my thesis about pen versus camera held. To register the ambiance without disrupting the mood I used the bellow camera (1923) of my grandfather. Set it up a tripod to take exposures just long enough to show difference between people with and without motion. Dusk was choosen as photo moment to balance indoor and outdoor light. Additional a handheld flash was used give the bar an extra touch of light.

2006
Mathilde μP