Portfolios > The Inevitability of Nina

Thessaloniki is such an important location in my life story. It marks a pivotal event. I flew to Thessaloniki in 1970 to join the oil tanker SS Esso Newcastle. Because the oil pipeline from God knows where, probably Saudi Arabia, to Lebanon had been sabotaged, the Esso Newcastle was stuck in Lebanon, waiting for the pipeline to be repaired and for a cargo of crude oil. As a result of the delay, I spent a week with the other replacement crew at the Le Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki, waiting for our ship to come in, as it were. I don’t remember much of the journey from Glasgow to Thessaloniki. I do remember that the pop star Cat Stevens was on the same London-to-Rome flight, and he was rude to the BEA ground staff because our departure was delayed - as if they could have done anything about it. That experience forever affected my opinion of Cat and his music, although it’s probably time to forgive him. I was traumatized by a sexual predator aboard the Esso Newcastle. By the time the voyage ended five months later in Thessaloniki, I was a very different person from when it began. Fifty-six years later, I’m still processing what happened. And that’s why I’m back in Thessaloniki, staying at Le Palace Hotel and struggling to construct a photograph to illustrate this story.

I should have known better than to have high expectations or a previsualized image, but I did. I was fixated on a photograph I had taken in 1970 from the balcony of my room, showing the “Palace” portion of the “Hotel Le Palace” sign. I contacted the hotel a month before my arrival to request the same room. Unfortunately, they assigned the room on the floor above. When I looked out from the balcony, all I could see was “Hotel.” I requested a room change, but it wasn’t possible, so I decided to go with what I had, even though I was stressed about the photo not working - it’s hard to let go of a previsualized image. Since the sign was to the right of my balcony and my shot would be looking straight out the window, past my staged-dead, naked body, I bought a wall mirror and angled it to redirect the reflection of the “Hotel” part of the sign toward the camera. I added a red glow from my computer for further dramatic effect. I know the shot didn’t turn out as I envisioned, and since I don’t have time to stay in Thessaloniki until the desired room becomes available, I thought sharing the struggle would add a behind-the-scenes dimension to the effort and somehow complement the image.