citylikeyou — Amsterdam / Simon Wald-Lasowski

Simon Wald-Lasowski (Paris, 1980) is a freelance photographer and art director. He makes colorful, fun, twisted work by use of bricolage, word play and ‘cliché bending’. Lighthearted at first sight, his images often reveal a certain depth on second inspection. His approach is always very personal, which blur the boundaries between autonomous and commissioned work. He lives in Amsterdam and graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2004 as a graphic designer. Occasionally he also works as a Wedding MC.

http://www.simonwaldlasowski.com

Photographer Art Director

Current city: Amsterdam

simonwaldlasowski.com

Amsterdam / Bar

Probably the cosiest place in town! Warm 'Berlin style' wallpapered living room build around a half circle bar. They host poetry, bingo & acoustic evenings in the front room, and great film, concerts and dress up parties in the hidden mezzanine back room.

Amsterdam / Studio Spaces

A few years ago, the Volkskrant (one of the countries biggest newspaper) moved office to a new location. Their old headquarter now houses hundreds of artists and musician; along with dance studios, a bar/club with panorama over the city, a dreadlock 'doctor', a Russian cultural centre, a cyberpunk gallery and my photo studio on the 4th floor. It was a conscious choice by the founders to create a total melting pot. In the basement for example, 3 doors away from our music studio, you will find some cheerful weed smoking hiphop producers from the Bijlmer (the 'ghetto' of Amsterdam); an ex-yougoslavian hardcore drummer with a full analogue recording studio and a ballet school run by an obese woman in her 70's. Ok, it might seem artificial, but it really is quite magical!

Amsterdam / Event

Working under the name of one of the worst ski jumper in history are a crew of close friends who throws some of the wildest parties around town! Their events have included distributing laughing gas in balloons to everyone in the audience, d.i.y circus acts with rats jumping through fire circles, an air gun shooting range to blast cheesy ceramic trinkets, sweaty live shows, gourmet meals for a few euros cooked by master chef Sjim Hendrix, and so much more… Of course, it's all for the sake of art, since they are a museum and also exhibit work :)

Amsterdam / Gallery

Ex theatre, ex d.i.y squat exhibition space, the W139 has now evolved into an official playground for contemporary art. Most works are made site specifically and are not for sale. This creates an exciting platform for experimentation. This gigantic space; absurd oasis in the middle of the invasion of sex toys, plastic pizzas & weed souvenirs of the Red Light District, is a must see. The openings are legendary and gather all the art kids in town. I use to work here as a host, as a barman, and I even designed their invitations from 2007 to 2008. All of my friends work or exhibited here, and it's one of my regular stops when biking around.

Amsterdam / Market

The city's biggest flea market is hosted the first weekend of each month in and around a gigantic warehouse in the industrial area of NDSM in Amsterdam Noord. I love to snuff around the hundreds of stalls to find unusual props. Taking the boat to cross the IJ and leaving the old centre behind is very refreshing. Make sure to also have a drink in Noorderlicht while the sun sets.

Amsterdam / School

Surrounded by the growing business area of Amsterdam Zuid, this modernist historic monument from the 60's oozes freedom. The clash of strict, grey, practical architecture of Gerrit Rietveld with the chaotic, colourful, anarchic bustle of art students working in these spaces is amazing. The 5 years I spend here as a student changed my life and shaped me to a great extend to who I am today. Now, temporarily walking these corridors again as a guest teacher, I realise how much I had missed this place since graduating 8 years ago. This is not a common art school. It's a family, a movement with a very personal and radical approach. Many students coming for a temporary exchange end up staying, because after wandering through this twisted Mondrian painting you will never be the same…

Amsterdam / Squat

In the ever growing conservative political scene in the Netherlands, the ADM is a reminder of the freedom and chaos that Amsterdam must have once been. It gives me my dose of dirty grittiness, something which is miss in this city in constant renovation and gentrification. Evolving around a main building on an industrial shipyard on the outskirts of town, it's an area where modern gypsies, anarchists, artists and free thinkers build their houses, park their caravans or dock their house boats. It's not entirely my scene, but I am happy to know that it's there. And they throw some amazing festivals!

Amsterdam / Photographer

I’m Jose, a Venezuelan Dreamer, Art director and Photographer based in Amsterdam. Having latin blood with a global soul has helped me to do great work for nice agencies and amazing people in 5 different countries so far. I've worked for brands such as Toyota, PlayStation, Magnum, Pampers, Qatar Airways, and Deutsche Telekom among others. In my photography I explore the everyday life, gender, environmental issues, and sexuality. I’m a crazy curious person, I experienced a lot of things in life from how is the everyday in a circus to being backstage documenting Sex work. I find fascinating people’s behavior always up to meet different characters, and have been doing it all around the globe. I love getting my hands dirty with the craft of ideas in every way, I have a graphic design background, I've been taking photographs for the past 5 years and I'm working in my first short film “THE SHOW MUST GO ON” now.

Amsterdam / Illustrator

Fatti Burke is an award winning children's book illustrator from Ireland, currently living in Amsterdam. She has been working as a freelance illustrator since 2013 in the editorial, publishing and advertising fields. Her work revolves around the things she loves – food, home, memes, animals and tradition. Her first three books that she created with her father, Irelandopedia (2015), Historopedia (2016) and Foclóiropedia (2017), were bestsellers in Ireland. She is currently working on upcoming non-fiction children's books with Penguin Random House, Bloomsbury, Gill Books and Nosy Crow. Represented by Art Associates Amsterdam

Amsterdam / Visual Artist

The banal, the quotidian, the obvious, the common and the ordinary fascinate me. How do we give meaning to our daily life?

Amsterdam / Graphic Designer

Iam currently working in Amsterdam. Inspired by the pop-culture, folk art, pound shops and tumblr, fascinated by inventions, colour, movement and compositions. She designs & conceptualises for both cultural and commercial fields. Whether in the digital realm or on a three-dimensional scale, she combines different disciplines and mediums to build engaging experiences.

Amsterdam / Photographer

Photography. styling, gatherings, workshops; I love creating in all kinds of ways. Why choose one thing if you can create more? (IG: @verdenius). Co-Founder of The Gatherists (IG: @thegatheristst) organising small gatherings for like-minded creatives & entrepreneurs. Based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

More People in Amsterdam 101