Between the 1993 and 2003, he worked as a night porter in 7 different hotels in London. These include the Bonnington, the Howard and the Langham Hilton. Whilst working, he would photograph the nocturnal lives of these hotels. These photographs illustrate dramatic moments as when a guest is locked out of their room, or depict the hours of tedium as the door man snoozes on the couch in the hotel lobby. Shaw then writes on the majority of these photos, either an explanatory caption or a passing comment and it is this juxtaposition that lend these photographs their poignancy. By applying a highly personalised diary approach to the dreary and sometime drunken nights, the dark side of these hotels explode into life through his photographs. Over the past year, Shaw has continued this project by being a paying guest in hotels away from London, particularly on his travels round Europe. This new work will merge with the old to become the Chris Shaw hotel portrait. Martin Parr
Chris Shaw studied photography at West Surrey College of Art and Design between 1986 and 1989. In 2002 he won the Project Assistance Grant in Arles, this project is the subject of this exhibition.