STORY | AMSTERDAM

Portraits at the NDSM Wharf with a Racket and a Suitcase

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Published 1 November 2026

Man in a gray beanie and camel coat sitting on a graffiti wall that reads NEVER DIES, bare branches behind him at the NDSM wharf

Arjun’s portraits at the NDSM wharf started on a graffiti wall that says NEVER DIES. They ended with a side plank on a painted concrete block. In between, Arjun showed me his whole week: his laptop, his tennis racket, a suitcase and his car.

Arjun is a consultant from India who coaches teams all over Europe, and he needed new photos for his website and profile. An office felt too stiff, so we met on the old shipyard in Amsterdam-Noord instead. Sessions like this one are part of my portrait photoshoots in Amsterdam.

Graffiti at the NDSM Wharf

The NDSM wharf was once a working shipyard. Today it is full of studios, cafés and street art. Because the graffiti keeps changing, no two portraits at the NDSM wharf look quite the same.

We met at twenty past twelve by a long wall covered in graffiti. Arjun wore a gray beanie, a camel coat and a black turtleneck. He sat down right above the words NEVER DIES, and within a minute he was laughing at his own nerves. Then the beanie came off, showing his silver hair.

Smiling man in a gray beanie, camel coat and black turtleneck, hands clasped, a close portrait in front of graffiti and bare branches

Beanie off and silver hair showing, he sits on the painted wall in his camel coat and jeans, a relaxed portrait at the NDSM wharf

Next, he swapped the coat for a cream blazer. An old bicycle leaned against a pole full of stickers, so I asked him to point at whatever caught his eye. A few steps farther, blue and red graffiti and rusty pipes framed him like a stage set.

Man in a cream blazer and black turtleneck stretching one arm out beside an old bicycle and a pole covered in stickers

Man in a cream blazer with both hands in his pockets, blue and red graffiti and rusty pipes behind him at the NDSM wharf — Graffiti and rusty pipes on the NDSM wharf, 12:38

Coffee by an Old Train Carriage

Just before one, we found an old blue train carriage with a weathered wooden table in front of it. Arjun sat down with his phone and a yellow travel mug, in a black sweater with gold trim at the collar and cuffs. Later the sweater came off, but the yellow mug stayed in every frame.

Man in a black sweater with gold trim smiling on a wooden bench, a yellow travel mug beside him and an old blue train carriage behind

In a black T-shirt now, he lifts a yellow travel mug on a weathered bench in front of the blue train carriage at the NDSM wharf

Against a tangle of bare branches, I asked him what he loves about his work. His hands answered before he did: one on his heart, a salute, a peace sign.

Close portrait with a hand on his chest, the gold-trimmed collar of his black sweater bright against dark bare branches

Laughing man giving a playful salute in a black sweater with gold cuffs, a tangle of bare branches soft behind him

Peace sign beside a broad smile, silver hair and a gold-trimmed collar, a close portrait against winter branches at NDSM

A Car, a Racket and a Suitcase

After one o’clock, we walked to his car, a dark gray hatchback. Arjun put on a black bomber jacket and orange-tinted sunglasses. Then he rolled down the window and waved, as if he were leaving on a road trip.

Man in orange-tinted sunglasses and a black bomber jacket waving from the driver’s seat of a dark gray car — Waving from the driver’s seat, 13:10

In the trunk lay a yellow and black tennis bag. He plays every Saturday morning, so the racket simply had to be in the photos. When he held it up, he burst out laughing, and that laugh became my favorite frame of the day.

Man in a black bomber jacket holding up a blue tennis racket above a yellow and black tennis bag in the open trunk of a car

Laughing man with silver hair and a blue tennis racket by the open trunk of a car, a portrait on the NDSM wharf

After that came a bright yellow suitcase, because he travels most weeks. Behind him rose the red Faralda crane, an old shipyard crane that is now a hotel. Finally, he sat down against the car with the suitcase beside him and looked straight into the lens.

Man in a navy blazer with a yellow suitcase and a dark car, the red Faralda crane rising behind him at the NDSM wharf

Crouching beside a bright yellow hard-shell suitcase, he opens both hands toward the camera in front of a dark car

Close portrait of a man sitting against a dark car, hands folded on one knee, a yellow suitcase beside him on the NDSM wharf

A Laptop and a Black-and-White Lane

Back at the blue carriage, the laptop came out, covered in stickers from his teams. In a navy blazer and vest, he typed, explained and once made a small fist of joy. Then he sat down in the grass with the laptop on his knees.

Man in a navy blazer making a small fist of joy at a laptop covered in stickers, at a wooden table by the blue carriage

Smiling man in a navy blazer sitting on the grass at the NDSM wharf, a sticker-covered laptop on his knees

Nearby, a brick lane runs along a dark ribbed wall, with Pllek at the far end. Here I chose black and white, because the wall, the bricks and his blazer needed no color. He walked toward me with a steel bottle and laughed at something I said.

Black and white frame of a man walking down a brick lane beside a dark ribbed wall, the Pllek sign and bicycles behind him

Black and white close-up of a laughing man in a vest and blazer, holding a steel bottle against a ribbed metal wall

Last Portraits at the NDSM Wharf

To finish, Arjun sat cross-legged on a painted concrete block and closed his eyes for a moment. After almost two hours of talking, it was the quietest frame of the day.

Man sitting cross-legged on a painted concrete block, eyes closed and hands loosely folded, calm in a navy blazer

Then he climbed onto another painted block, did a side plank and grinned, as if his portraits at the NDSM wharf had been a workout all along. It was exactly two o’clock.

Man doing a side plank on a graffiti-covered concrete block at the NDSM wharf, an orange-framed window behind him — A painted concrete block, two o’clock

Wondering what a solo session could be for you? My solo photoshoot ideas range from a court in The Hague to a willow in Leiden.

Would you like portraits that show what fills your week? Discover how my portrait photoshoots in Amsterdam work.