Liminal Spaces, Shapes and Colour
Heavily inspired by the work of Todd Hido.
Straight of out camera with the Fujifilm X100v
In September of 2022 a friend and I visited The Photography Show. Half a mile from the NEC in Birmingham where the event was held is this Travel Lodge we stayed at. £35 for 1 night, why not. A bed for the night was all that was needed. Although I’m grateful for a good nights sleep, this was probably on the worser sides of hotel rooms I’ve ever stayed in. However, with age and poor quality comes character and even a liminal space feeling.
If you’re familiar with Todd Hido and his work with interiors I would be flattered if you can see the similarity in these photos I got here. It’s not often that someone’s work makes you feel a certain type of way and Todd Hido’s interior photography definitely creates an atmosphere I haven’t seen or felt from photos before. So when I walked into this Travel Lodge room I immediately wanted to capture this liminal atmosphere.
This isn’t the first time I have attempted to capture liminal space photography. Over a year ago I filmed my process of walking around Basildon at night in the winter snow photographing with a similar idea in mind. Check out that video here: Liminal Spaces SCARE ME and Why I'm taking Photos of Them.
Downstairs in the lobby of the hotel was definitely much less liminal and eerie of course. People eating, drinking and staff serving customers made this feel like nothing of out the ordinary. I had my camera zipped away in my bag with no intention of shooting.
That was until my friend Pete who was with me on this trip wondered into the corner to look for any potential images. I wasn't sure what caught his eye until I followed and noticed these shapes, lines and colours.
The reason I like these images could be a simple one. They’re timeless to me. A combination of the slightly aged rooms, interior design and JPEG film simulations from the X100v give this look a timeless effect. Was this an editorial piece taken in 1982 or in fact just a young photographers 1 night stay whilst visiting The Photography Show in 2022?
This documentary, contemporary or editorial style photography is something I find very interesting and probably something I should pursue more often. I had fun playing around with these images and that’s all that matters right?
