The striking Speeltoren of Edam was about to fall over on 2 May 1972. The young Amsterdam photographer C. Barton van Flymen was sent for it by Het Parool. “I had never been to Edam before, took pictures of the tower and got into a conversation with the local residents. Heard and felt their enormous anxiety, panic and fear.” Now, 50 years later, Barton is back and living in Edam.
The conversations led to a book, an exhibition and a film, called “ten for eleven”. At that time on May 2, 50 years ago, the tower clock had stopped.
He made the work about the play tower together with Marianne Jonkman. Marianne has chosen over a hundred photos from Barton’s archive, which moved from one attic to another over the years, for the exhibition in the old town hall of Edam. “In a week, Barton shot about two hundred photos, five rolls full, and made a color film. Only two photos ended up in the newspaper at the time and all those other photos are only now being shown for the first time.”
havoc
In all his naivety, Barton even climbed the wobbly tower on May 2, 1972. “I think I was up there for fifteen minutes and took some pictures of the old town. I was considered crazy by the police and the fire brigade that I had walked in.” In one of the photos you can very well see what the havoc would have been if the tower had collapsed. Barton “Half of the city center would have been wiped out by then, because that tower is 40 meters high”.
Barton van Flymen for the photo she took on May 2, 1972 from the shaky Speeltoren. – NH News
What Barton remembers is the great fear in the people who were sitting on the street because they weren’t allowed to go home. “There was a family who lived next to the tower and on that particular day, after three years of renovation, they had finally finished their house and were able to live there. Unbelievable. They stayed in a hotel near Dam Square.”
upheaval
The upheaval of that time is what Barton remembers. Together with Marianne, he went to see everyone involved again for their stories. “The fear of the disaster has of course disappeared, but not the emotion, the intensity with which they experienced it.” Those stories, Barton’s photos and also the many photos of the residents themselves have ended up in the book and in the exhibition. The book is for sale at the local bookstore or via www.tienvoorelf.nl†
The exhibition can be seen from 10 May in the old town hall of Edam and the film will be broadcast in September.
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