How Alfredo Oliva Channeled Edward Hopper for “The Woman in the Window”
Spanish photographer Alfredo Oliva doesn’t typically take photographs in Seville, the city where he lives. Instead, most of his images are captured on vacation, in places like Romania, Ecuador, and Iceland.
But one fortunate day, he brought his camera along with him on an afternoon walk in his hometown — just in case he saw something interesting. “I remember it was a beautiful spring day in Seville,” he says. “While I was walking the downtown, I saw a woman watching the street from the window of her hotel room.”
The scene caught his eye immediately, calling to mind some of the artworks he says have inspired and influenced his own style. “It suggested, to me, a certain sadness and melancholy,” says Alfredo. “A lonely woman, alone in her room — it reminded me of some of Edward Hopper’s paintings.”
Additionally, he says, he was struck by the graphic colors and lines created by the building and its surrounding environment, which he was able to really focus on once he pulled out his camera and started shooting.
