losfelices@concepthotelgroup.es
BEYOND THE LOBBY - Between Sheets and Shadows: A Photographic Look at Hotels
Between Sheets and Shadows: A Photographic Look at Hotels
By Jon @whereismyhotel
Over time, hotels and photography have shared an intimate relationship, reflecting eras, styles, emotions, and unique atmospheres. During the 20th century, numerous photographers not only stayed in these spaces but also made them a central part of their creative process, using them as key settings for their work. Each found in them inspiration, a creative refuge, or even a field for radical experimentation.
Helmut Newton made the Chateau Marmont his personal studio. The rooms became accomplices in his visual provocations, where elegant eroticism blended with the Hollywood of the moment. His vision was so irreverent that he was even banne
d from the Villa d’Este for pushing the boundaries of decorum. Bruce Weber, on the other hand, discovered in South Beach a melancholic theater of youth and desire. In Miami’s Art Deco hotels, he developed a visual universe bathed in golden light, where bodies, skin, and intimacy merged with tropical architecture. It was there that he shaped iconic campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch, redefining the image of American desire: natural, athletic, and free.
From a creative direction perspective, Grace Coddington transformed the Byblos in Saint-Tropez into an editorial fantasy for Vogue. Through a visual narrative that explores every corner of the hotel, the story culminates with the iconic image of the pool. Norman Parkinson, renowned for his elegance, masterfully captured the essence of Caribbean hotels and villas, blending fashion, natural landscapes, and an almost cinematic atmosphere.
Guy Bourdin completely transformed the idea of the hotel as a refuge of comfort: his Parisian rooms became dreamlike and unsettling stages, where the surreal and the sensual merge into a unique aesthetic. Terry O’Neill captured one of Hollywood’s most iconic images: Faye Dunaway, The Morning After (1977). In it, Dunaway has breakfast by the Beverly Hills Hotel pool, surrounded by newspapers, just hours after winning the Oscar. A snapshot of Hollywood myth: glamour, solitude, and glory at dawn. These perspectives brought new meaning to hotels, helping us understand them in a deeper way. Today, in the visual era, many hotels are conceived with their photographic potential in mind, aware that every space can become a postcard.
Concept Hotel Group understood this new sensibility and conceived Los Felices Hotel as a space created not only for rest but also for imagery: a setting designed to host fashion shoots, music videos, and other creative expressions.
