"Cool is an idea, a philosophy, a pattern of behavior, something deep down. A cool outside is primarily determined by attitude, body language and facial expression..." Says Milan Hofmans, author of Cool Amsterdam, who dedicated his book to all cool-wicked- and awesome people whom he photographed and form the core of the book.
Amsterdam Cool
Book capturing cool people in Amsterdam
Milan Hofmans took pictures of people he met all around Amsterdam - in metro stations, canal streets and parks, in order to capture the “hard to catch” aura of cool people he came across. He first started photographing original personas in autumn 2011, which became his passion. In eight months filled with the constant hunt for radiant people, he spotted and photographed 31 people possessing the cool factor, who stood out of the regular stream of people on the streets.
When you are leafing through the Amsterdam Cool book, it feels like being on the high street of Amsterdam. It is lively, pulsing, and chic. It reminds us - international people living in Amsterdam, how it was to sit on our first ‘oma’ (‘grandma’) bike and give it its first (a bit shaky) ride. How we looked around and saw other people riding their bikes, their faces and their special magic that made us look back after them. We seriously risked our lives, because any other move apart from a strained holding of the handlebars could end up with a backflip without a smooth landing. Anyway, in spite of all the danger we looked back, because we wanted to have one more closer look. What attracted our attention? What was it? Such an invisible force and spirit that surrounded that person. They were simply cool.
“Amsterdam has a history of being gritty, individual, free, innovative, rebellious and defiant – cool qualities that still prevail. But we must be watchful … Cool is not a built-in quality of Amsterdam, of any city for that matter. It is within the people”, Hofmans confirms our every day experience.
The book is made up of only pictures and there is no written story about the portrayed people. The author wanted to tell the story with the pictures, but sometimes there are questions that pop up and remain without answer. What does he think of? What is she doing? Are they happy? Through Amsterdam Cool we do not have to risk a crash on our bikes, we have got plenty of time to look and analyze the spirit of cool people we meet every day. But when we turn the page, it is gone - like on the street and again we don’t have the answers. Since the pictures of the book were taken only in eight months last year, the book tells the story of a very short period. We cannot really see differences in how being cool is represented in terms of time.
However, Amsterdam Cool gives testimony what is going on the street here, now and we all are part of it. And without a question Amsterdam Cool is a cool piece of work.
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