Chloe Lelliott shares the story behind her fleeting encounter in a London hotel foyer.
Describe the image.
A smart male figure is waiting in a foyer standing in front of curtains
Where was this photograph taken.
London Hotel Foyer - I can’t remember which as I photographed in so many...
Why was this photograph made?
The photograph was made as part of a series called Halcion Lounge which explored various hotel foyers. I was interested in transitory spaces and hotel foyers as they were a place where lots of people's lives would cross. I liked the snatched pieces of conversations and to imagine all these anonymous figures' stories, where they had been, why they were here.
What was happening outside of the frame.
The image was taken with a tripod and a Mamiya medium format camera. The Camera is quite ancient and makes lots of mechanical sounds, so it was not always easy to be incognito! I was photographing something else when the man came through the door, which I think led to a conference room. He seemed to be having a quick break and adjusted his tie, there was something really elegant about how he stood amidst the curtains. I only got two shots before he went back inside.
Tell us a key fact about this photograph.
It helped me to start to include more people within my work.
Why is this photograph important to you.
It’s probably my most exhibited image and has been successful in that way. It is a simple image but for me it has an elegant melancholy feeling to it, and for some reason I find it quite haunting, perhaps because I never got to see the man's face. There is a stillness and ambiguity that I enjoy and it gave me the confidence to use people more in my work. Halcion Lounge was the last series that I shot on my Mamiya, and this image is a reminder of that period using that camera.