VACANCY


VACANCY

Vacancy (noun)
*a space or place that is available to be used
*place, location, site, town, space, vacancy
*idleness, vacuity, inactivity, vacancy
*an empty area or space
*being unoccupied

As a person and a photographer, I am fascinated by the complex relationship between humans and their (built) environment. How we relate to nature, cities, our homes, workplaces, but also holiday resorts and tourist destinations. How we influence these environments—and how they, in turn, influence us.

VACANCY is an ongoing, multi-year project in which I capture the emptiness and silence of hotels, resorts, and tourist spots during the holiday season. Moments and places where the human presence is temporarily absent, yet its traces remain subtly visible. Places we escape to, but which also reveal something about our way of life.

These are images of in-between time: just before or after the rush, when silence and emptiness take over. Photographed during twilight, these scenes feel suspended—like stills from a paused film. Anticipating the next scene. There is a sense of stillness, a transitional phase, waiting for the next scene or movement.
I therefore only photograph during dawn or dusk—moments of transition themselves.

I see this series as a metaphor for the transitional periods in our lives, where one phase ends but the next has yet to begin.

The title refers both to the familiar "No/Vacancy" signs at motels and to the Dutch word vakantie (holiday/vacation).

Available for licensing and limited edtion fine art prints. DM me for, rates, options or info.

ronald@tilleman.nl