Dana Lixenberg portrays the city in a series of landscapes and interiors. The absence of people in the images turns the viewer’s gaze to the space itself and to the myriad details which define these environments. In Set Amsterdam only traces of human activity hint at inhabitants and at lives fully lived. 

Lixenberg was inspired to create these photographs after being commissioned to create actors’ portraits for the eight-part television series A'dam - E.v.a. (Amsterdam and many others). Her work on the series guided Lixenberg to locations previously inconspicuous to her, such as a former bomb shelter, a Ghanaian church, cemeteries, a morgue, Amsterdam’s garbage incinerator and other public and private spaces.

Lixenberg sought environments imparting a sense of transience that bear witness to the human stamp of its former residents. She also photographed spaces still filled with life and which, through subtle attention to detail and atmosphere, evoke a way of life.

ABOUT DANA LIXENBERG
Dana Lixenberg is a leading Dutch photographer whose work has been published in photo books and in international magazines. She has also exhibited work at major museums in the Netherlands and throughout the world.

Set Amsterdam was made possible with support from the Amsterdam City Archives / Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK) and Stichting DELA Fonds.

Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Delta Lloyd, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.