Personal
2011-ongoing

Hotel Monte Rosa is a series of photographs of a hotel located in downtown Madeira, Portugal, that was once owned and managed by my grandfather.

The small four-story building operated for fifty years, accommodating tourists that wanted to stay at the heart of the island. Monte Rosa was a place full of life, with people roaming the hallways and sleeping in temporary beds. Unfortunately, in 2008, it had to close down as the economy collapsed. It became harder to compete with large hotel chains. Moreover, my grandfather´s health started to deteriorate and he had to move to Venezuela to be near his family.

The first time I entered the hotel after it closed, I felt deeply nostalgic. I heard the eerie silence of loneliness, walked through the desolated halls and the empty rooms. I remembered all the moments lived in there.

Being back between the walls of a place that holds a significant part of my family history, I had an immediate desire to photograph it.

The images show a place preserved in time, affected by the inevitable deterioration caused by abandonment. Now, only objects and the trace of human presence occupy the rooms. Liquor bottles remain half full at the hotel bar and telephones linger on each night table, waiting for a call that will never come. The soul of this place departed with its last occupants and its owner, who had lived in the hotel and dedicated his life to its success.

Hotel Monte Rosa is a refuge to memories. It represents the end of a chapter in my family history, marked by the loss of its patriarch and the detachment of its heirs.