Tyler Shields Chateau For Sale

Edition

Edition of 3, Framed

This image would have never happened if we weren’t in a lockdown. The Chateau Marmont is one of the most iconic hotels in the world, and in my almost 20 years of living in Los Angeles, I’ve never seen the front or the driveway of the Chateau empty. Because of the pandemic, the hotel was shutdown, no one was there and there were no cars driving up and down. During lockdown, I was using an old 35mm camera that I hadn’t used in a long time, and I had just a couple of frames left to use. On the way to get these developed at the lab, I figured I’d take the final shots. We drove past the Chateau on the way over and it was completely empty – I was dumbfounded. We took the shot, and afterwards I noticed we were standing just 15 feet from exactly where Helmut Newton died. Without realizing, this was a perfect homage to him. We shot three pictures, but I knew within the first shot I had something magical. I never ever do vertical photographs, I think there’s just two or three in my entire catalogue, but for whatever reason I did this shot vertical. There must have been an energy that made everything work perfectly for us. It was one of those moments when if you’re never willing to go out and take a photograph without having an idea, you might never be surprised, and this image was a beautiful surprise. - Tyler Shields