A Chance to Write History

The author describes the practice of commissioning photographers by the City
Archive of Amsterdam. The City Archive traditionally collected photographs to
do with Amsterdam. As a result of proposals made by the Dutch photographers
trade union (GKf), the City Archive and the related Amsterdam Art Fund began
commissioning photographers in 1973. The City Archive provided a list of
suggested themes, but photographers were free to choose their own themes. As
the author states, the fact that documentary photography has developed in a
variety of directions in Holland can be attributed to the assignments.
Amsterdam was the first, and for a long time the only municipality in the
Netherlands to carry out its own policy on photography. It was also the first
to recognise the artistic relevance of documentary photography.