Amsterdam Canal Houses

Afternoon light falls across a row of Amsterdam canal houses, each one a little different from the next. Brick fronts, tall windows and shaped gables run behind young trees, while bicycles gather along the railing near the water. A low houseboat sits in the canal, and its pale curtains repeat in the broken reflections below.

Gables give each house a different top edge even where the window rows look alike. Tree branches cross the facades and occasionally interrupt a straight line of brickwork. Below the railing, reflections turn the houses into wavering vertical strips. The houseboat sits between those reflected colors and the buildings themselves, with a long horizontal roof. Bicycle wheels add smaller circles near the bank, away from the broad curves in the water.