Haarlem Evening Cafe Tables Black and White Photography

Woven Chairs Outside Tall Windows Filled With Evening Light

The outdoor tables were empty, but the cafe windows still held light and people. I photographed this evening corner in Haarlem, the Netherlands, from the street, keeping the woven chairs close to the camera and the interior beyond the glass. In black and white, the scene is built from patterns, small highlights and the darker lines of the window frames.

I wanted to show the feeling of being outside while looking into a place that was still in use. At the nearest table, a small candle holder sits alone on the round surface. The chairs face different directions, with their striped weaving making a much busier texture than the tabletops. The cobbled ground adds another pattern underneath them.

Above the tables, the tall windows divide the interior into narrow views. Plates on the wall, hanging lights and a plant remain visible, while people appear softer behind the glass. The light gathers into bright points near the top of the frames and gentler patches farther inside. Those layers made the photograph more interesting than a simple view of the seating.

I like the pause in this scene. The outdoor space has room around each chair, yet the windows keep it connected to the activity indoors. The upright frame lets those two parts share the picture from pavement to upper glass. It is a small street view from Haarlem, held at the point when the evening still has life inside it.

© Dan Kosmayer, 2024