The Hollywood Suites (Doors) #3
1977
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 24.6 × 32.1 cm (9 11/16 × 12 5/8 in.) sheet: 27.9 × 35.4 cm (11 × 13 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon
Accession Number
2018.177.88
Art Historical Context
**The Hollywood Suites (Doors) #3**, created by photographer Steve Kahn in 1977, captures a moment from his evocative series focused on Hollywood motel architecture. This gelatin silver print, measuring 24.6 × 32.1 cm (image) on a 27.9 × 35.4 cm sheet, draws viewers into the shadowy allure of mid-20th-century Los Angeles lodging. The title hints at a close-up study of doors—iconic symbols of transition and hidden stories—rendered in crisp black-and-white tones that emphasize texture, light, and form. Gelatin silver printing, a hallmark of fine art photography in the analog era, allowed Kahn t...
About the Artist
Steve Kahn
Steve Kahn (1943–2018) was an American photographer born on December 29, 1943, in Los Angeles to Virginia and Eugene Kahn. Demonstrating an early passion for the medium, he shot assignments for a local newspaper while still in grade school and later worked as a photojournalist on the streets of Los Angeles starting in 1968, contributing as a stringer to magazines like *Life* and *Newsweek*. Kahn e...