A sailboat is seen on a body of water known as the IJ.  The IJ, sometimes shown on old maps as Y or Ye) is a body of water, formerly a bay, in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is known for being Amsterdam‘s waterfront. – Wikipedia

Barend Arendsen: 1867-1918

The following biography is from the 2010 volume In atmosferisch licht : picturalisme in de Nederlandse fotografie, 1890-1925

Barend Arendsen started his working life as a confectioner. By the turn of the century he was a passionate amateur photographer, attracted to Pictorialism.

He mastered various processes and enjoyed in particular making carbon prints. Arendsen’s photographs and lantern slides of landscapes and street scenes, published and exhibited between 1901 and 1908, won several medals; particularly esteemed were his winter landscapes and studies of sheep.

Descendants of Arendsen have said that he played oboe in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra but, unable to earn his living, he looked for another profession. He was asked by the architect of the city’s Rijksmuseum, P.J.H. Cuypers (1827-1921), to do photographic work for the museum, and in time he became a professional photographer specializing in museum photography. Only a few examples of Arendsen’s work are held in public collections.