Stadsbee;d
The Stadsbeeld exhibition centres around a selection from the weekly ‘Stadsbeeld’ photo column in newspaper Het Parool, which Bas has been developing for over three years, capturing notable street scenes in Amsterdam through his distinctive style. The column gives him the opportunity to develop intuitive and experimental images.
So far, he has published nearly 200 full-page images in the newspaper, and the project is still ongoing. Through his photography, Bas aims to highlight the extraordinary out of the everyday. His work addresses feelings we all recognize when on the street, such as anonymity, loneliness, and fear of the unfamiliar. With the ubiquity of social media and digital communication, we are more connected than ever, but at the same time, more secluded from each other. Bas often chooses to work in locations where people can reconnect; spaces where people are in close proximity and eyes of strangers meet.
His work advocates for more awareness, understanding, empathy, and a more sociable urban life. By capturing the rapid changes and raw edges of city life, Bas documents how Amsterdam is continuously evolving. He is particularly drawn to places where the old and new meet, such as construction sites and road diversions. Stadsbeeld really functions as a mirror for our urban behaviour in Amsterdam. The series builds on his international project Out of Place, in which he travelled to nine megacities to explore the effects of population density.
About Bas Losekoot
Bas Losekoot (born 1979, Amsterdam) is an artist and photographer obsessed with small social issues in big cities. His style blends documentary photography with cinematic lighting. With an intuitive eye, he captures the modern urban experience in the most crowded cities in the world. He studied photography at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, followed by cinematography at the Amsterdam Film Academy, and recently completed a Master’s in Photography and Urban Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Bas has taught photography at the Dutch Academy of Visual Arts and led workshops in collaboration with LUCA School of Arts Genk, The New School Amsterdam, Fotoacademie, and Nikon Netherlands. He has lectured at venues including Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam, The Photographers’ Gallery in London, and Urban Photo Fest at TATE Britain.
His work has appeared widely in international publications such as The New Yorker, The Guardian, CNN Editions, Volkskrant, Internazionale, Die Zeit, IMA Magazine, and the British Journal of Photography. Exhibitions include Museum MORE, Kunsthal Helmond, Amsterdam Museum, Van Abbemuseum, Museum Hilversum, Fotomuseum aan het Vrijthof, BOZAR/Paleis voor Schone Kunsten in Brussels, Concertgebouw Brugge, Kaunas Gallery in Lithuania, Contour Gallery in Rotterdam, Pulchri Studio in The Hague, and festivals like Jimei x Les Rencontres d’Arles (China), LagosPhoto, FotoIstanbul, Focus Festival Mumbai, Villa Pérochon, FF Naarden, Noorderlicht, and Unseen Amsterdam. His first monograph, Out of Place, was published in 2020 by Kehrer Verlag, followed by his second, Streetview (with an introduction by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer), in 2022 by Lecturis.
