STORY | AMSTERDAM

A Roll of Black-and-White Film on the Canals

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Updated 8 November 2026

On black-and-white film, a couple kisses by an old lamppost at a canal railing, a no-entry sign and a small bridge soft behind them

Miles and Josie have a travel habit: a new city, a new photographer. They came to Amsterdam from the United States in mid-October, mostly for the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. This time, they wanted to try something new: black-and-white film on the canals.

So they booked one of my couple photoshoots in Amsterdam with the Analog Photofilm add-on. Next to the digital photos, I shot one roll of film on a vintage camera as we walked through the canal belt.

Black-and-White Film on a Gray Day

The roll was Ilford Delta 400, a fine-grained black-and-white film. On a gray autumn day, it turns brick, water and green trees into soft shades of gray. The first frames went to an old lamppost by a small bridge with a string of bulbs along its arch. There, the sun broke through once, right behind them, as Miles kissed Josie on the cheek.

By a tall lamppost near a bridge lit with small bulbs, the couple stands close on a cobbled corner, a parked car in the foreground

Sun breaks through behind them as he kisses her cheek by a bridge with a string of lights along its arch, on black-and-white film — The first frames of the roll, by a small bridge with a string of bulbs

One Roll of Film on the Canals

On film, every frame counts, so I take one photograph at a time instead of a burst. They only had to pause for a second when I pressed the shutter. The rest of the time, they simply walked, talked and held hands.

Seen from behind on a stone ledge, she turns her smiling face to his, his long hair tied in a knot, canal houses across the water

On a stone ledge by the water, they sat with their backs to me. I waited until Josie turned toward him, smiling.

Across the water, the couple sits on a brick canal wall beneath a big tree, a parking sign below them, on black-and-white film

Holding hands across a railing by the water, she in a long wool coat and he in a fleece jacket with white sneakers, big trees above

A Fleece Jacket and a Ring

Up close, black and white brings out texture: the curly fleece of his jacket, the wool of her long coat, his hair tied up in a knot. Without color, the eye goes straight to faces and hands, like hers on his shoulder, with a round ring catching the light.

Her hands crossed on the curly fleece of his shoulder, dark nail polish and a round solitaire ring catching the light

Her hand with a ring rests on his fleece-covered arm as she smiles up at him, his hair in a low bun, the background soft and gray

Another old lamppost stood in front of a tall house with a balustrade on its roof. A little later, they sat down on the stone steps of a canal house.

Under an ornate lamppost, the couple stands by a railing over the water, a tall house with a rooftop balustrade rising behind them

On the stone steps of a canal house, he sits behind her with an arm around her shoulders, both smiling into the camera

Over his shoulder, she smiles at him and he smiles back, his beard and hair knot against a pale sky in black-and-white film grain

Over his shoulder, Josie smiled at him, and he smiled back.

Two Frames for the City

In between, I spent two frames on the canals themselves: light on the water and bikes on a bridge. On black-and-white film, the canals look their quietest. On film, you look twice before you press the shutter, at the city as much as at the people.

Light glitters on dark canal water below a tree-lined street with a lamppost, parked cars and bikes, all in shades of gray

Bikes lean on a bridge railing in front of tall gabled canal houses, a quiet frame on black-and-white film with no one in it — Light on the water and bikes on a bridge, mid-October

Right after, Josie smiled into the lens, with Miles’s cheek against her hair.

Cheek against her hair, he holds her by the shoulders as she smiles into the lens, canal house windows behind, on black-and-white film

By an Old Lamppost

Later, by an old lamppost at a railing over the water, they kissed. That frame now opens this story. A few steps on, they stood arm in arm below a corner house with a round window.

Arm in arm, they stand by the water in front of a corner house with a neck gable and a round window, a tree beside them

Within 15 days, once the lab had developed and scanned the roll, their film photos joined the digital ones in their gallery. Not sure which one suits you? My guide to digital or film compares both.

The digital photos of the same walk, in full color, have their own story.

A whole hour on film is possible too, as one of my analog photoshoots in Amsterdam.

Dreaming of your own walk along the canals? Discover how my couple photoshoots in Amsterdam work.