Since 1999, Huis Marseille has been situated on Keizersgracht 401 as Amsterdam’s first photography museum. In September 2013, the museum was expanded to include the neighboring building at Keizersgracht 399, providing it with a total of fourteen exhibition spaces, including the lightwell in 399. The museum offers a rich and varied exhibition programme with changeovers about four times per year. Since the expansion in 2013, there has been a lot of opportunity to show the museum’s own collection alongside the exhibition. The collection consists primarily of leading modern (national and international) photography.

How photographers develop a new visual language that is relevant to the artistic nature of photography, but which also reflects on this time? That is the question which is central to Huis Marseille, and which informs the exhibition programme and collection acquisitions. During an age in which photography has risen to wild popularity, available to all and omnipresent as (mass) medium, photography as an artistic medium is in constant flux. Huis Marseille chooses photography which focuses on a specific visual language and is characterized by a passionate spirit of inquiry, as part of an ongoing investigation into avant-garde innovation. Moreover, photography in Huis Marseille has social relevance and interfaces with the changing spirit of the times.