Who has noticed that the tamarin monkeys in Artis Zoo swing through a richly decorated building? And that you can swim in a monument? No matter how busy the city may be, this is where time seems to pause.

Monuments shift from décor to protagonists and the city itself transforms into memory. Water becomes both window and filter. Details dissolve into gentle ripples and magic emerges in the everyday.

About the Artist
Suzan Baars is a photographer who moved to Amsterdam during her studies at the University of Amsterdam in the 1980s. She took endless walks through the city, partly in search of that dream room along the canal. It was then that her fascination began for the hidden treasures behind the façades.

Much later, this led her to photograph heritage sites for Monumentaal Magazine visiting remarkable places, where history, architecture and story intertwine. More recently, her gaze has shifted outwards, from the walls to the water, to what becomes visible in reflection.

Her photography is a search for the experience of space, for that fleeting moment, when a place turnes intimate and begins to feel at home.

Photo: Suzan Baars