The Hotel, Room 28 1981

Curator: Sophie Calle’s “The Hotel, Room 28,” part of a project where she worked as a chambermaid, is striking. It’s a grid of photographs, mostly in black and white, documenting the traces left behind by hotel guests. Editor: My first thought: it feels like evidence. A crime scene, maybe? There’s something voyeuristic about it, like we're sifting through someone's secrets. Curator: Precisely. Calle plays with the ideas of intimacy and distance. The arrangement of objects – a row of shoes, scattered toiletries – becomes a portrait of absence. Each item echoes a specific gesture. Editor: The room number itself, "28," becomes a charged symbol. Hotel rooms are such transient spaces, filled with fleeting moments. Curator: I agree, a symbol of anonymity, but also intense emotional experience. This piece is not just a record; it's an invitation to imagine the lives that passed through that room. Editor: Yes, after viewing it, I’m strangely drawn into the stories of unseen guests.