Amsterdam is a special place with a very unique urban landscape and incredibly open and warm people. The canals or Grachten, how they are called there, flow through the city like veins, giving natural vitality to a otherwise very urban place.
Spring is a special time in the Netherlands. It is the season of the tulips and the whole country seems to be in bloom. I always wanted to do a biking trip in Holland around this time of the year and I finally managed to do it in April of 2017. It all started where it always starts – in the awesome city of Amsterdam, right exactly at the time when the place was waking up from it’s winter sleep.
I am not doing night photography very often – cause it’s not easy to accomplish. But Amsterdam inspires in nighttime as in daylight. It is just an incredible city with great views on the channels and on the distinct architecture. Amsterdam is also a town that never sleeps much like New York and although the Dutch are very liberal in regards to drugs and prostitution, it never feels dangerous or unsafe to walk around during the night.
Amsterdam is one of my favourite cities in Europe. It’s a town I come back to as often as I am able to. I love the open minded atmosphere there and the friendly people, how there are no curtains in front of the windows because you simply don’t need any to hide things away. Life happens on the streets of course, and there is a lot of it buzzing around. Bicycles are everywhere and it doesn’t matter if it’s an older person or a father with his kids or just somebody on her way to work, everybody seems to ride their bikes with great joy, passing by the many channels of Amsterdam while kicking the pedals.
Michael Hoffman Photography 