Nederlands Fotomuseum opens February 7

With over 6.5 million objects, the Nederlands Fotomuseum has one of the largest museum collections of photography in the world. From 7 February 2026, part of the collection will finally be on display again in the recently renovated state-monument warehouse Santos on Rotterdam's Rijnhaven. The monumental building brings together cultural heritage, architecture and contemporary museum presentation to create an international meeting place for photography. The opening exhibition presents an impressive overview of photography of the city from 1843 to the present day.

The opening in Warehouse Santos heralds a new chapter for the Netherlands' leading centre for photography. In the nine-storey state-of-the-art building, one of the country's best-preserved historic warehouses, visitors will not only have access to masterpieces from the National Collection, but also a unique look behind the scenes in the open storage rooms and restoration studios.

The new museum houses, among others, the Eregalerij van de Nederlandse fotografie. It shows the development of photography in the Netherlands - from the invention of photography in 1839 to today's digital age. The Gallery of Honour features 99 exceptional photographs chosen for their social and artistic impact and includes masterpieces by Anton Corbijn, Dana Lixenberg, Violette Cornelius, Ed van der Elsken, Paul Huf, Rineke Dijkstra and Erwin Olaf. The 100th work in the exhibition will be chosen by visitors. The Gallery of Honour is undergoing a transformation tailored to the new building.

There are also temporary exhibitions and educational spaces and it has a library with the largest photo book collection in Europe, a darkroom, a café and a restaurant with panoramic views of the Rotterdam skyline. The move to Santos was made possible thanks to a generous donation from Stichting Droom en Daad.

Opening exhibition: Rotterdam in focus

Rotterdam in focus. Photography of the city 1843 - now offers an impressive overview of photography of the city from 1843 to the present. Over 300 photos unfold the development of photography over a period of some 180 years. They were taken by both professional and amateur photographers. Iconic photographers such as Hans Aarsman, Iwan Baan, Eva Besnyö, Henri Berssenbrugge, Johann Georg Hameter, Helena van der Kraan, Jannes Linders, Cas Oorthuys, Otto Snoek and others show how a changing Rotterdam repeatedly challenges a new way of looking, observing and photographing. The exhibition includes work from leading collections, including those of the Nederlands Fotomuseum, the Stadsarchief Rotterdam, Koninklijke Verzamelingen and the Maria Austria Instituut. Curated by guest curators Frits Gierstberg and Joop de Jong, the exhibition is on view until 24 May 2026. The book of the same name will be published by nai010 publishers.

Opening exhibition: Awakening in blue

The exhibition Awakening in Blue. An ode to cyanotype celebrates the timeless beauty of one of the oldest and most recognisable photographic techniques: cyanotype. The deep blue medium is known for its artisanal nature and slow, direct working method. Besides rare, early blueprints, the exhibition features work by fifteen contemporary makers. They breathe new life into the nineteenth-century technique and combine it with new media and diverse materials. Their work explores current themes such as ecology, colonialism and the body as a living archive. The exhibition is designed by Maison the Faux, a Dutch interdisciplinary collective known for their groundbreaking work at the intersection of fashion, performance and installation art. The exhibition runs until 7 June 2026.

Santos warehouse

Built between 1901 and 1902 by Rotterdam architects J.P. Stok Wzn and J.J. Kanters, the monumental Santos warehouse is one of the best-preserved and finest examples of early 20th-century warehouse architecture. Originally designed as a warehouse for coffee from the Brazilian port city of Santos, the building has been registered as a national monument since 2000. The renovation and extension of the building was carried out by German architectural firm RENNER HAINKE WIRTH ZIRN ARCHITEKTEN in collaboration with Rotterdam-based WDJARCHITECTEN and realised by Burgy Bouwbedrijf.

The heart of the building, spread over two floors, will soon house the Collection and studio spaces. Through glass walls, visitors will get a look behind the scenes. In the open depots, a selection from the archives is displayed, together with special and remarkable objects from the Collection. In the studios, specialists work on restoration and conservation.

The ground floor will be an inviting meeting place with the café, library, museum shop and reception desk. Visitors are welcome here even without a ticket and can walk in freely. In this 'living room for photography', they can meet, have a drink, read, and watch the short film that Dutch photographer Marwan Magroun (Rotterdam, 1985) made especially for the reopening of the Nederlands Fotomuseum.