Dana Lixenberg- De Wallen Amsterdam

De Wallen Amsterdam, by Dana Lixenberg, is a portrait of Amsterdam’s Red Light District, the historic neighborhood where she spent her childhood.

Her work on De Wallen, created between 2021 and 2025, does not focus on the excesses of the community resulting from over‑tourism and overindulgence. Nor does it take a stance on recent political and community efforts to curb these excesses. Shot on film with a large‑format camera, the series consists of intimate black‑and‑white portraits of residents, visitors, artists, sex workers, drifters, and business owners. These are shown alongside detailed color interiors, devoid of people, that reveal what lies behind the façades of the alleys and canals. De Wallen Amsterdam also includes stills from her three‑channel video installation, which forms part of an exhibition at the Stadsarchief Amsterdam (Amsterdam City Archives).