Avant-garde fashion photographer talks about the genesis of his haunting investigation into human loneliness

SHOOT: Always find Erwin Olaf's work interesting, but I think he takes himself a little bit too seriously. I suppose everyone in the fashion industry does. Fashion is fickle.

clipped from www.dazeddigital.com Dazed Digital: Is the Hotel series an expression of loneliness? Erwin Olaf:  The Hotel series is about alienation and the subtle range of dark emotions that they can give a person. The hotel rooms that I sleep in when I am travelling are all different but the feeling that they give is the same, there is a certain disengagement that takes place. Dazed Digital: What does the term beauty mean to you? Erwin Olaf:  Beauty is a term that is always in development, it's not a fixed thing and is very much subjective, so to me it’s a perception. In my own life, I seek beauty in nature, for instance the noise of  sparrows in the morning, fresh flowers or beautiful design. Most of the time, I get ideas when I am lying on the couch, and am just relaxed enough to catch and remember the thought. You never know if the final image is perfect, but I am really happy with an idea when it fulfills the quest that I had in mind.