Eight photographs, plainly captioned
The eight photographs run in four acts — establishing, detail, process and the tables — with two full-bleed stills cutting between them. Every caption says what its photograph shows and nothing more. Where a person appears, the person is seen from behind or at a distance and is not presented as a member of staff.
Act 01
Establishing
Two wide views of where the work happens: a bathhouse massage room from the archive, and a pool hall lit for the evening.
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Massage roomA historic bathhouse massage room in black and white, with a masseur at work beside a long padded table and daylight coming through a tall arched window. It is an archive photograph, and the people in it are not staff of the spa. -
Pool hallAn indoor pool photographed from above at night, with globe lamps on the columns, a curling water slide and plants trailing over the rail. The water is lit and ready for the evening.
Act 02
Detail
Two photographs of the quieter corners: the cedar sauna between turns, and the barrel sauna out on the stones.
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SaunaTiered cedar benches with the pail left on the lower one and a small window at the end of the room. The sauna runs in forty-minute turns and is aired between them. -
Garden saunaThe cedar barrel sauna out on the stones with the door shut between turns, and the water behind it. It is opened on the day pass whenever the weather allows.
BreakA warm stone massage in progress, the stones laid in a line along the spine and the stove lit at the back of the room. The visitor is seen from behind.
Act 03
Process
Two photographs of a room being made ready: a treatment table under a blanket, and the sauna stool set out before the heat is on.
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Treatment tableA massage table made up with a folded grey blanket in a dim room, with a framed picture and a window with blinds behind it. The lights are kept low before the first visit. -
Sauna stoolA slatted wooden stool set on the sauna bench, with blue tiles below. It is photographed close, before the heat is turned on.
BreakA lounge with every lounger empty, the palm-leaf wallpaper running the length of the wall and the slatted ceiling above. It is the room in the minutes before the doors open.
Act 04
Rooms
Two photographs of the warm rooms: the tiled bench in the steam room, and a treatment table made up under a white sheet.
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Steam benchThe tiled bench set into the stone alcove of the steam room, patterned in green and blue and warm to sit on. It is the one room in the building that was left exactly as it was found. -
Made-up tableA massage table made up with a white sheet, the face cradle fitted and the cushioned arm beside it, against a wall of textured wood tiles. It is the table as it looks when the room is ready.
Contact
Ask what a visit like this costs
The photographs show the kind of rooms and calm the spa keeps, not a fixed package. The figure for a date and a scope is confirmed in writing before anything is agreed.