Haunting hotel, pre-gentrification, in photo essay

There’s something about urban decay that tugs at me. Whether it’s abandoned buildings, back alleys chock-full of debris, or fictional depictions of empty cities, the thought of a once-bustling population now gone really leaves me rapt.

I’m also taken with the idea of urban renewal, and rebirth. Perhaps it’s because I grew up in a rambling old Victorian-era house, surrounded by continual renovations and the idea that, as the family grew, we could simply not rent out one of the apartments that had been carved out of the house, knock down some walls, and expand our own living space. We were simultaneously making things new and better and restoring them to the way they were.

That’s probably also why I find myself actually offended when developers purchase old buildings, then strip them of all their vintage detailing and turn them into modern condos.

I love seeing old warehouses become lofts, but please — restored oak trim has so much more to offer than MDF.

So that’s why I was so happy to see the latest photo essay on website Good.is.

A collection by photographer David Sotelo, the photos are a collection of work that he did two years ago, just as the historic El Dorado Hotel in downtown L.A. was being turned over to new owners and vacated.

The new owners have turned the former hotel into high-rent condos, now, but Sotelo’s photos capture a time in transition — before the gentrification, but after the previous inhabitants have been told to move along. Some of the rooms are empty, others almost-so. But others, like the one above, seem to have a lot of life still in them.

From the Good.is page:

“The initial compulsion came from the immediate experience of the interior of the building—feeling the intimacy of the spaces and these people’s lives,” says Sotelo. “I went back there for at least fifteen times. I would go on a Friday at about three in the morning and climb up into this building with my equipment, as well as power bars and toilet paper and water. I would lie down and wait for the sun to come up, and then I would chase the light around the building all day, photographing obsessively. I was there alone with all of this history. I felt a little bit like some of these archeologist poking around in tombs, except that I could easily read and identify with what I found.”

Awesome. See it all here.