The architecture of Amsterdam

This week's pictures take a little look at Amsterdam architecture, as seen in August 2007. The centre of this great Dutch city overflows with fine buildings from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and it also has a great deal of excellent modern architecture, mainly on the outskirts. It all reflects the Dutch genius for domesticity. Crammed into a small country and at constant risk from flooding, they have long excelled at creating houses and urban spaces that are practical, homely and very attractive. The Dutch just know how to live well, individually and together. Here in England, still building miles of soulless estates on flood plains, we could learn a lot from them.

Last week's pictures showed some contemporary sights of Amsterdam

We went on holiday to Amsterdam the week before last and had a great time. It's a very fine city - historic and beautiful, but also packed with modern life. Urbane and relaxing, yet still with a proper city edge to it. Going round the place with our 2¾ year-old son (who loved it) was obviously not all that conducive to serious picture-taking. But hopefully last week's set still managed to show a decent selection of Amsterdam sights in August 2007. Be warned however - the first snap is not for the faint-hearted !

Other recent pictures of the week

Gay Pride took place in Brighton on August 4th and it was a huge success, attracting an estimated 150,000 people. The event has become, for almost as many straights as gays, one of the most glorious and fun-filled events in the contemporary urban social calendar. The picture set a fortnight ago looked back at previous Brighton Prides since 1995 to provide a happy selection of gay pride smiles.

The pictures three weeks ago were about fishing boats. They are such a traditional and colourful feature of harbours and beaches, with their quaint names and their seemingly chaotic paraphrenalia of nets, ropes, pots and winches. They often seem as if they've been put there by the tourist board as part of the picture postcard view of Britain. But the fishing industry, of course, is a whole lot more than just a picturesque background for holidaymakers. As the excellent recent BBC TV series on trawlers showed very clearly, fishing is - and always has been - one of the most dangerous and insecure of professions. It can also be one of the most productive and rewarding. The pictures in this set come from St Ives, Whitby, Lyme Regis, Worthing and Dieppe.

Summer didn't even seem to have started four weeks ago, but already it was time for shop sales signs to appear in the high street. Some shops, rather suspiciously, have sales all the time. Others put "closing down sale" in their windows and yet are still open a year later. Clearly, like all modern business practice, there is more than a hint of smoke and mirrors to the world of sales. But many retailers, especially in clothing, have been having a hard time this year and there are probably plenty of bargains to be had. So the switch cards are twitching and the tills are ringing. If only the sun would shine a little longer too.

About this site and picture library

There are now almost 50000 images in the library and they can all be keyword searched from the picture search page. New or updated subjects include Amsterdam architecture and sights, gay prides, fishing boats, sales signs, the Tour de France and Tony Blair. The site has several ways to help make relevant and fruitful searches, including index pages for both subjects and events & places.  There is also a useful search guide and information page.

A good showcase of the type and range of photography available can be explored in the pictures of the week series. Published on the site since December 2001, this now totals more than 2600 images. Every week there is a set of ten pictures about a particular place, event or theme. Almost all the library's pictures are available for personal or commercial reproduction. Digital files can be delivered by email or CD, prices start from as little as £8 and there is further information on the prices and terms & conditions pages. You can also contact David Gray for quotations and availability for new photography commissions.