Gezicht vanaf het dak van het huis van de fotograaf op het Singel, Amsterdam c. 1852

This photograph of the Singel in Amsterdam was taken by Eduard Isaac Asser using the calotype process, a very early photographic technique. Here we see the city not as a grand monument but as a place of domestic life. Rows of houses line the canal; their facades are the backdrop to the everyday rhythms of 19th-century Amsterdam. Consider the vantage point: from the roof of his own home, Asser isn't just recording a scene, he’s situating himself within it. This reflects the burgeoning Dutch middle class and their relationship to the urban environment. Photography in the Netherlands at this time was still in its infancy. The institutions that would later support and shape artistic production, such as photography schools and galleries, were not yet fully formed. This image, therefore, represents an early attempt to capture and interpret the changing urban landscape. To further understand the context of this image, one might research the history of photography in the Netherlands or the urban development of Amsterdam during this period.