When American Shirley Agudo moved to the Netherlands several years ago, she was instantly captivated by the Dutch use of bicycles. Most newcomers bring up their initial reaction to the bike scene at some point - usually describing it as surprise, shock or amusement - but none have taken their fascination quite as far as Agudo has. Being a photojournalist, she decided to create a volume of her photos on the ‘Bicycle Mania’ along with those of contributing photographers Trevor Waldron, Ben Deiman and Max Rubenacker. The book, published by XPat Media with Scriptum, depicts the mentality and the reputation of the cycling culture in her adopted country.

With her camera, Agudo captures pictures of the Dutch performing circus-like tricks as they make their way through busy cities while transporting the strangest (and bulkiest) of objects on their bikes, like mattresses and tables, or transporting children or pets in a bakfiets or cargo bike.

“The Dutch do almost anything and everything on a bike and, as my book illustrates, they also carry anything and everything,” she says.  “They decorate them in the wackiest ways--not only to identify them among the masses of other bikes, but, I'm convinced, just to make life a little more fun.”

It is definitely not uncommon to see a woman bringing a full load of children to school, a man cycling home two bikes instead of one, or a student simultaneously guiding the handlebars, holding a mobile phone to his or her ear while balancing a cumbersome bag of schoolbooks.

We were curious to know what inspired Agudo to start this project. She tells Expatica: “My reason for doing 'Bicycle Mania' is to show other people how extraordinary the Dutch bicycle culture really is. It's both a photo book--with 150 surprising and humorous images--and an informative book about the bicycle culture.”

She also shares some of the trivia on the the Dutch and cycling in her book. “It has the highest density of bicycles in the world (16.5million people to 18million bicycles), meaning there are more bikes than people.”

Agudo points out that several countries are taking The Netherlands as an example.With such a focus on sustainability in the world today, the use of bicycles is very important. For instance, the Dutch Bicycle Council is helping a number of countries to launch a similar cycling model. Agudo’s book includes personal advice from the International Coordinator of the council, Hans Voerknecht.   

Although fascinated by the bicycle, Agudo confesses that she doesn’t use hers all that much. “I  used to live in Drenthe with the kids and cycled everywhere.Now, I am constantly taking pictures,“  she says admitting that she finds it easier to walk, rather than cycle , with her photography equipment.

“I'm more interested in taking photographs. I walk a lot, and 'park' myself at various hot-spots where I know that I can get some great shots. And I will continue to do so, as I'm already working on Volume 2.”

Agudo explains that her “perspective is seen through my camera lens instead of from the saddle.” 

So what are her feelings towards the Dutch and their bikes? She mentions both awe and respect. “My respect centres around the fact that the Dutch people use their bicycles as a normal, everyday means of transportation--often through rain, sleet, sometimes snow, and often gale-force winds.”

'Bicycle mania' is a must-buy for those expats interested in the extent of the bike craze in their new homeland, or simply for a giggle at the absurdity of some Dutch cyclists…  

Available at several bookshops in The Netherlands or at one of the following three:
www.bicycle-mania.nl
www.xpat.nl
www.hollandbooks.nl


For more information on Shirley Agudo’s photography, see www.shirleyagudo.com. You can also visit the Bicycle Mania photography exhibit now through December 17th at Eduard Planting Fine Art Photographs in Amsterdam. www.eduardplanting.com

Expatica/ Elinor Gittins