Gezicht op de Engelse huizen en het logement Rondeel in Amsterdam vanuit het huis van de fotograaf 1852 - 1860

Eduard Isaac Asser made this albumen print, titled "View of the English houses and the Rondeel lodging in Amsterdam from the photographer's house," during a time of significant social change. As a lawyer and a pioneer in photography, Asser occupied a unique position in 19th-century Amsterdam society. His view from home captures not just buildings and waterways, but also a sense of the city's evolving identity. The "English houses" might suggest Amsterdam's international connections, while the lodging represents the more intimate, local spaces of the city. Through Asser’s lens, we are invited to consider how the burgeoning technology of photography was beginning to shape perceptions of urban life. There is a quietness to the photograph, reflecting the slower pace of life before the age of mass media and rapid communication. In capturing this particular view, Asser invites us to reflect on the relationship between personal space and public life, between the local and the global, and how these dynamics were being negotiated in a rapidly changing world.