Inez and Vinoodh’s Guide to Amsterdam

It has been more than 30 years since Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin said goodbye to their native Amsterdam for good. Their roots are now firmly planted in New York – the city that now also belongs to their son, Charles – yet Amsterdam remains the ground from which their creative and romantic partnership grew.

Over four decades, Inez and Vinoodh have refined an unparalleled creative harmony and, together, pushed the boundaries of image-making. The result is a distinctive aesthetic that remains recognisable across every format, from fashion editorials to music videos.

This shared photographic language is derived from a distinctly Amsterdam childhood. “Growing up there was beautiful,” they recall. (Via email, the duo answer questions collectively.) “In the early ’70s it was Europe’s centre for the hippie movement and a great melting pot of artists.” Much of their education happened in the city’s museums. “We grew up going to the Rembrandts and the Van Goghs every month,” they say. A specific aesthetic emerged against this backdrop: “That light and sense of colour was a constant influence.” 

Despite this, Amsterdam had its limits. “It’s incredible to develop your creative voice in a laid-back, subsidised way, but eventually it became clear that we needed to move to New York to start working,” they say.  

Their retrospective Can Love Be A Photograph is something of a homecoming – staged pointedly in the Netherlands, at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. “It was beautiful to show our country what we’d been up to for these past 40 years and to establish a new baseline together, from which we make new work,” they say. Here, Inez and Vinoodh share their favourite spots in Amsterdam, the city that ignited their partnership. 

Where did you two first meet? Is there a place in the city that takes you back to the early days of your relationship? 

INEZ AND VINOODH We met at the Fashion Academy Vogue in Amsterdam. But the Patisserie Holtkamp and its amazing pastries (tompoes especially) is special to us, as it is around the corner from where we first lived together. 

One spot you’ll forever associate with being a young artist? 

IV The Atheneum Bookshop is the best magazine and bookshop in Europe, we got all our information from there.

Is there a corner of Amsterdam that one of you loves more than the other – one that’s his or hers?

IV We both love the Vondelpark. Inez loves the clearing where concerts are held every summer and Vinoodh loves the film museum.

A hidden, quiet spot to escape to that most people wouldn’t know to look for ?

IV Hotel de Goudfazant, the most incredible warehouse space-turned-restaurant.

Best place for people-watching?

IV The beaches close to the city! Bloemendaal beach is great. 

Where in the city would you send an artist if they were stuck in a creative rut?

IV To the Rijksmuseum, to see the dollhouse collection. 

One place you really missed after moving to New York?

IV All the small shops that sell french fries with mayonnaise.

What’s the most memorable piece of work – photograph or otherwise – you made in the city?

IV Our first time working together in 1986, was a black-and-white photograph of a girl called Charo, shot in a tiny studio. After that shoot, we made a second series shot in the Oude Kerk, the oldest church in Amsterdam. 

Somewhere you’re relieved to see is still up and running?

IV Laura Dols. Best vintage clothes.

The meal – or the place that serves it – that still tastes like home?

IV Buffet van Odette has it all. 

Can Love Be a Photograph: 40 Years of Inez & Vinoodh runs at Kunstmuseum Den Haag until 6 September.