The beauty of everyday life (Hilton Hotel Tel Aviv)

Hilton Hotel Tel Aviv

I don't think you need to photograph an entire building to tell its story.

Sometimes one small part is much more interesting.

That's what happened when I photographed the Hilton Hotel Tel Aviv. Rather than trying to fit the whole hotel into the frame, I became fascinated by its balconies.

There were so many of them.

From a distance, they created this almost perfect pattern of red, white and blue-grey stretching across the building. The longer I looked, the less it felt like I was photographing a hotel at all.

And then I noticed the people.

Tiny figures standing on balconies. Open doors. Curtains pulled differently from one room to the next. Chairs that had been moved around.

Suddenly, what had looked like a perfect architectural pattern wasn't perfect anymore.

And I liked it much more that way.

The Tel Aviv I Like to Photograph

When you think of Tel Aviv, this probably isn't the first view that comes to mind.

You might picture the beach, palm trees, busy streets, Bauhaus buildings or people sitting outside cafés late into the evening.

Those are all parts of the city I love.

But when I'm walking around with my camera, I'm usually just as interested in the things between the obvious sights.

A colourful fruit stand. An old façade. A balcony covered in plants. A strange shadow falling across a building. Or a hotel that suddenly turns into a geometric pattern when you look at it from the right angle.

That's one of the reasons I enjoy Tel Aviv photography so much.

The city never feels too polished. There is always something interrupting the picture.

And often, that's the part that makes it interesting.

Look at the Photograph Again

At first, this photograph of the Hilton Hotel Tel Aviv is all about repetition.

Your eye follows the red lines across the image. Balcony after balcony appears almost identical to the next.

But spend a little longer with it.

You'll start finding things.

There are people standing outside. Some balcony doors are open. Others are closed. Curtains appear behind certain windows. Chairs have been left in different positions.

I love that you don't necessarily notice any of this immediately.

From farther away, you see a pattern.

Come closer, and you begin to see individual lives inside it.

I think that's one of the things that can make a photograph interesting to live with. It doesn't have to reveal everything the first time you look at it.

There should still be something to discover later.

A Different Kind of Tel Aviv Architecture Photography

Tel Aviv has incredible architecture, and some of it is immediately recognisable.

But I don't always want my photographs to simply say, This is what this building looks like.

I'm more interested in what catches my eye when I'm actually there.

With the Hilton Hotel Tel Aviv, it was the rhythm of the balconies and those strong red horizontal lines. By filling the entire frame with them, the building becomes almost abstract.

You could look at the photograph for a moment without even realising what you're seeing.

And then a person on one of the balconies gives you a sense of scale.

That's the moment I like.

The architecture is still important, but so is the life happening inside it.

Why I Keep Photographing Tel Aviv

Every time I photograph Tel Aviv, I seem to find another version of the city.

Sometimes it's colourful and chaotic.

Sometimes it's quiet.

Sometimes I'm photographing one of its famous Bauhaus buildings, and sometimes I stop because the light hitting an ordinary street corner suddenly makes it impossible for me to keep walking.

That's probably what connects most of my work.

I photograph the things that make me stop.

Not necessarily the places I'm supposed to photograph.

And when I later go through the images, those photographs often bring me back to a place much more strongly than the obvious landmarks do.

They remind me of what it actually felt like to walk through the city and notice it for myself.

Bring a Little Tel Aviv Home

This particular photograph of the Hilton Hotel Tel Aviv isn't available as a print, but if you found your way here because you love Tel Aviv, there's much more of the city in my photography.

My Tel Aviv Fine Art Print Collection includes photographs of its Bauhaus architecture, colourful streets, local businesses and those small everyday scenes that, for me, capture the character of the city.

They're not meant to be generic pictures of Tel Aviv.

They're photographs of the details I noticed while walking through it.

And if Tel Aviv means something to you — a place you've lived, somewhere you've travelled, or a city you simply can't quite forget — I hope you'll find an image in the collection that brings a little of that feeling back.