Description
About this drawing
I sat for days on end at Amsterdam’s Newmarket at Monk Street . The Red Light District borders Newmarket Square, which is considered part of Amsterdam’s Chinatown. The sights, the people and all that passed needed to be taken down into this story of a picture.
Surinamese fruit vendors busily hocked their imported goods in the daily market. Black folks, with richly dyed cloth headgear, added vibrant and colorful contrast to the scene. Sounds filled the air – with squeaks, bells and whistles mainly coming from Joint Paradise where excited patrons played pinball games.
On the sidewalk outside the Jolly Joker Pot Shop, a West Indian man decided that he wanted to be drawn into my picture. He began to dance, exclaiming “draw me! draw me!”. Inside the Joker, locals quietly enjoyed coffee while rolling their smoke choices from the menu of the day.
Retail establishments lined the street – including a general store, a flower boutique, and then a cheese shop. Residential quarters sat directly above these shops. Many of the buildings were quite old and some of them had a “lean” to them. Telephone poles were often used to brace these old structures and keep them from leaning further.
One day a gentleman approached. He stood for awhile and examined my work. After some time, he politely asked if he could talk with me in English.
The man had noticed that I applied a slight exaggeration to the leaning building next to Joint Paradise. He also saw that I had rendered an old fellow that peered daily from the third floor window of that building. It turns out that this gentleman who came to examine my work was the local building inspector.
With a humble tone, the inspector asked if I could do both himself and the old fellow in the window a favor. Apparently, many area buildings were undergoing rehabilitation. He was fearful that his boss may happen to drop by, see my “exaggerated” drawing, and immediately add the leaning building to the rehab list. He requested that I somehow distract the chief inspector – or perhaps block the depiction of the leaning building with my arm – so that the structure did not draw his attention.
The inspector knew the old man in the window, and he also knew of this man’s love for watching all the activity down below on the streets and nearby canal. He also explained that the old man was virtually at the end of his years. Upon hearing this, I promised him his wish and he moved on, thanking me profusely.
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