Let's do the Time Warp again!

Photo ©Darren Bradley

When I was in Palm Springs a few weeks ago for the photo festival, I stayed at The Hideaway. This is a tiny little classic modern motel that was built by Herbert Burns in 1947. At the time, it was originally called the Town & Desert Motel.

I loved this place. It felt like I was living in my own little studio apartment, in a community of other like-minded people. It was relaxed and casual, and the other guests and employees were great. All of the guests share a stocked kitchen, which felt like being at home. There's also a communal living area, and all of the rooms are grouped around a landscaped courtyard and pool. It was great and it really did feel like I was in a time warp. So that inspired me to take some vintage-looking photos of the living area, trying to capture the feeling of the place.

Photo ©Darren Bradley

I saw later that Julius Shulman had also photographed this motel, early in his career. I'd probably already seen these photos and they'd been lodged into my subconscious, because Shulman took one almost the same as my shot of the mountains.