Netherlands Straat Street Art Museum, Amsterdam

Straat, occupies an 8000 square metre building at the old NDSM shipyard and it contains a collection of street art from some of the finest graffiti artists in the world. At €21.50 admission fee for adults, it might feel steep for street art but if you’re drawn to this web site, I think you’ll feel well rewarded.

Photography is almost encouraged, which raises the wider issue of copyright for street art. Fortunately, the Dutch have a sensible legal stance on the matter: “Public artworks (including public sculpture, street art or architecture) are protected by copyright like any other work that is the result of the author’s own intellectual creation. However, copyright owners cannot prohibit the reproduction or publication of an image of an artwork that has been made to be permanently situated in a public place (article 18 DCA)”. Reproduction for commercial purposes is a different matter.

Give yourself two or more hours to enjoy this place – there really are that many art works to see and you might find yourself spending a few minutes with some of them.

Lens-wise, definitely wide-angle, 15-35mm on a full frame, will suit most needs. The light is not bright, so you might find it easier to raise the ISOs and remove noise in post-processing.

There is a free ferry, every 15 minutes, from behind Amsterdam Centraal railway station. It is sign-posted NDSM wharf and it takes about 15 minutes It’s a short walk from the ferry terminal to the museum.