marble, real or otherwise... Photo

Photographer’s Note

Marble-like painted walls with some local tiles too : this is the reception of the old Hotel Olid, in the very heart of old Tangier, where there are plenty of such hotels needing renovation. Losing myself in the narrow alleys of the medina, I felt a surge of nostlagia, entering the rather antique reception ; I thought that this old place, with a sort of aquarium-like, gloomy colours was interesting to post here, even if I am sure not to have much success with this photo !

Ended up chatting with 3 members of the staff, befriended the local lady cleaner who had 17 years of service there and a very hard personal life with family problems that I would not tell here.

There were no customers around - all the rooms were not empty though, still the receptionist assured me that the hotel was very quiet at night ; he tried to convince me to stay there, but having a long history of problems with noisy hotels, I had rented a tiny house in a nearby town for fear of noise and would certainly not have moved in such an environment !
(NB : among the notes to the customers visible on this shot, this sentence written in a funny English : "The Price of the Room is From Middy to Middy" (meaning : check out time noon and not later - "middy" = midi [French], for 12:00 noon)

Wandering_Dan, lestans, faubry, adelune, Partha_c, kiwi_explorer, Henryk_Bilor, stego has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Wandering_Dan (3329) 2007-12-22 9:05

Hi,Catherine -

An interesting photo and an even more interesting story!

Dan

lestans (15550) 2007-12-22 10:31

Ciao Cath!
hai fatto benissimo a mostrarci questo vecchio albergo dall'atmosfera così caratteristica, e mi piace molto anche la cameriera ritratta nell'ambiente della reception: il quadro raffigurante la cattedrale di Cordova mi colpisce molto!
L'immagine è di buona qualità, checchè tu ne dica. E' ottima la sprospettiva sul corridoio, e poi sono interessanti tutti i cartelli alle spalle dell'usciere
Ciao e... buon Natale!!

Livia

faubry (32511) 2007-12-22 10:43

bonsoir Catherine, une photo interessante par la prerspective et j aime beaucoup l inclusion de l homme. et la photo du roi au dessus.. bravo je te souhaite un joyeux Noel. a bientot
amicalement
francine

jbwapiti (1184) 2007-12-22 10:45

Je viens de critiquer une photo de l'Hôtel du Nord (canal St-Martin à Paris, lieu mythique pour cinéphiles).
Je trouve que la luminosité et la nuance de couleur principale reflète assez bien l'ambiance des vieux hôtels parisiens des années 1930, hormis le portrait du roi du Maroc.
JiBé

nirvana73 (8884) 2007-12-22 11:34

Merhaba Catherine
çok güzel bir yer

mekanın dokusunu çok sevdim
(i like texture of the place)

paylasim için tesekkürler
not: Türkçeniz bence çok güzel

selamlarimla
Özhan

Framboisilla (5402) 2007-12-22 11:36

Bonsoir Catherine,

Le cadrage est très bien pensé, j'aime beaucoup l'ouverture laissée par la perspective et le réceptionniste à droite. Photo attractive !

Bonne soirée,
Stéphanie.

MarcT (21105) 2007-12-22 12:39

Salut Cath,
L'endroit est assez "kitch" mais bon ce n'est pas un hôtel 3 étoiles, j'imagine.
A bientôt
Marc

adelune (2) 2007-12-22 13:26

Arrête Catherine! Tu as la photo dans le sang! Pour moi, humble mortel, la composition est parfaite! Et le résultat splendide! C'est pure vérité! Et tu sais que dans l'"affaire" (propos apparemment excessivement laudateurs), je n'ai rien à gagner! Merci pour ce très beau cliché! Admiration! alain

Partha_c (1985) 2007-12-22 23:28

Hi Catherine. The shot taken from a good POV to get the entrance and the front desk is well composed. But why real and false? Why not real and artificial? In fact, 'false' by itself carries some stigma -- deserved or otherwise. Your interaction with people across is really interesting. The hard personal life of the cleaning lady which you did not want to share here -- the statement is enough to convey the message! Well done. Cheers.
Partha

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2007-12-23 2:58

Hi Catherine,
You can say the marble like decor does give the hotel a bit of character of some sort. You really seem to have a gift of connecting with people ... for them to open up their problems to a stranger does not come naturally. You've captured and composed this scene wonderfully. Good lighting and contrast ... image quality is also good. Well done! tfs and Merry X'mas.
Cheers,
Renier

Stepan (27175) 2007-12-24 9:00

Une belle ambiance de voyage selon moi. En soi, l'endroit n'a rien de spécial, mais on imagine trop l'arrivée, la surprise (bonne ou mauvaise), le voyage... Et le pov/cadrage sont sympa.
Je te souhaite de joyeuses fêtes.
Stéphane

pablominto (41690) 2007-12-26 12:03

Hello Catherine,
I like thiks point of view, creating a dynamic conflicting perspective!
Amazing details and the colours enhances the mood in this hotel...
Greetings,
Pablo -

Henryk_Bilor (20375) 2007-12-27 23:46

Hi Cath
Interesting capture of the interior. Nice light.
I don`t like noise also...
Regards

stego (22500) 2007-12-29 16:11

Salut Catherine,
Tu as réussit très bien chassé l'ambiance de ces petites vieux hôtels du Maroc, avec ce mixage de décrépitude et un certain charme d'un époque passé, ou le temps s'écoule très lentement. Le PDV est très bien choisi. J'adore les photos, tableaux et affiches accrochés dans les murs: la cathédrale/mosquée de Cordova, les verses de l'Alcoran, Hassan II quand il était jeune, les fleurs de plastique, un affiche annonçant quelque chose de Picasso...
Amicalement, José.