Enrich the museum experience

Netherlands Photo Museum / Case page for award jury

From physical to digital

How do you unlock a photo collection for a new, younger target group in an innovative and digital way? And if those young people come to the museum, how do we ensure that the exhibition meets their expectations and media use? For the exhibition Lust for Life - the color photography by Ed van der Elsken, these are the questions that we started working with on behalf of the Netherlands Photo Museum.

App & insta stories

Telling stories with the rich collection of this museum, that is the core. To be able to tell these stories to a new target group, we developed two digital applications: an Instagram story concept and an app for iOS and Android that tell the visitor to the exhibition the story behind the photo.

Awards

  • Winner Gold Lovie
  • Winner People's vote Lovie
  • Nomination Dutch Interactive Awards

Viste the website

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About Ed

Ed van der Elsken (1925 -1990) was the 'enfant terrible' of Dutch photography. He was a photographer and filmmaker who expressed his meetings with people in photos, photo books and films for more than 40 years. His work spanned subjects including love, sex, art, music and alternative culture. His way of making life the center of his work is appealing to many photographers. He is renowned as the first true Dutch street photographer, and the way he used his camera much in the way that young people today snap selfies and navigate their own personal boundaries between the private and the public selves.

Story behind the photo

With the Ed app you look through the lens of Ed van der Elsken to the images he has taken. The photo is recognized by means of image recognition in the app. In this way the visitor experiences how and where he created the images. Every photo gives access to ‘what you don’t see’: additional photos, videos, time image, restoration, image selection and editing.

This app gives the visitors the opportunity to scan the images in the museum and read the relevant information afterwards. During the exhibition more than 15.000 images were scanned. The app has been developed in such a way that the Museum can also use it for future exhibitions.

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This app is fit for a museum of the future, where online and offline meet. It allows us to share even more stories from our rich collection.” Netherlands Photo Museum
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An original insta story

To bring the work and life of Ed van der Elsken to attention outside the museum, we have launched a five-part Instagram story series. A new episode was published online every week. Each ‘season’, consisting of four episodes, highlighted a characteristic aspect of his work. The stories were viewed a total of 35,000 times and were watched in full for an average of 80%.

Link to Instagram  / Click on story: Ed S01

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Ed in the now

Using Ed’s images, elements from his contact sheets and handwritten scribbles, we developed a style that fits the Instagram stories channel.

Interaction

The ‘reader’ of the stories can interact by answering polls that deal with substantive issues and propositions that stem from Ed’s work.

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Creators & Influencers

Creators and influencers were the main characters in the stories. We have asked contemporary creators such as Stacii Samidin, Anne Geene and Florian Braakman to compare their work with that of Ed van der Elsken. Art-loving influencers such as Sabrina Starke, @kunstkijken and Dennis Storm were given the opportunity to visit the exhibition outside opening hours and to give their vision of one or more works by Ed van der Elsken.

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We’re very excited to share our photographic heritage in an innovative way.” Netherlands Photo Museum

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