Peddling Polaroid Photos in Amsterdam's Bars, 1980's Era
In the heart of Amsterdam, two artists, Dutch native Bettie Ringma and American expatriate Marc H. Miller, embarked on a unique project in 1980. They captured the city's vibrant and seedy nightlife through a series of Polaroid photographs, a collection that would later become a book and an integral part of the city's archive.
The collection, which was exhibited at Galerie Stigter Van Doesburg in 2018 and again in the same year, offers a fascinating glimpse into Amsterdam's nightlife of the time. The photographs, taken in popular spots like Rembrandtplein and Zeedijk, which were considered no-go areas, showcase the hairstyles, clothes, and even the bad teeth of the people.
The collection is not just a mere documentation of the city's nightlife, but a reflection of the people who were a part of it. The subjects of the photographs were those who wanted to be captured, and the collection is described as accidental, shaped by the people who were photographed.
The collection showcases Surinamese workers and musicians at Jazzland on the Korte Leidsedwarstraat, gastarbeiders from Turkey at the Cascade restaurant on the Geldersekade, and even members of the Ajax football team celebrating a win. The more a bar or its clientele paid, the more likely they were to have a posed picture taken.
The princely sum for a posed picture was six guilders. Ringma and Miller brought the idea from New York and moved to Amsterdam in 1979. They approached Amsterdam gallery Art Something about a possible exhibition and received sponsorship from Polaroid.
Two essays, written in both English and Dutch, provide context for the collection as an art project. In her introduction, Leonor Faber-Jonker writes that the Polaroids were made following the instructions of the people portrayed. Miller states that living on a houseboat opposite the Anne Frank house and going out four or five times a week to hit the bars was a great romantic moment of his life.
The collection, which has not been previously mentioned as being turned into a book, ultimately determines what is in the book forty years later and how we will remember that time. The book provides a snapshot of a small part of Amsterdam in 1980, but it's a snapshot that offers a unique and captivating perspective of the city's past.
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