Old and New in Albuquerque
My $40 room in Albuquerque was a biggish room, but then it had a fairly big bed in it, that and the table, the chairs, the suitcase rack, the phone, the phone book, the ashtray, the TV, and of course... Gideons Bible.
Ths chest of drawers is usually something pretty bog standard and uninspiring with stiff drawers with a fine scattering of unidentifiable 'bits' in them, bits of a previous resident's life.
I wanted a shot of this chest of drawers but I'd not brought any flash with me on this trip. I'm not really keen on flash because it distorts the feeling of the place. It adds light where there wouldn't normally be light. (unless you're an interiors photographer with masses of equipment)
For a number of reasons Motel rooms are always fairly dark. The window will usually face a couple of parked up RVs or pick up trucks, there will usually be a first floor landing above the window which will stop sky light coming in a like a french flag and also, let's face it.... you're only ever really going to see inside a motel room late in the afternoon or evening and early morning before you leave.
If you're going to take a picture inside a room, it's far better to use longer exposures and utilize the subtlelties of the existing lighting than fake it with flash.
That said, on this occasion I had to take the lampshades off the fittings to get a shot of this chest of drawers. The 3200ASA film is not particularly good for detail in the blacks but it has caught the artificially lit atmosphere of the place.
Location: Albuquerque
Photographer: Christopher Hartford
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