Watch The Clift Hotel (1970) Official Trailer

The Clift Hotel was made by positioning the camera vis-à-vis a hotel entrance; Hafif hoped to capture guests entering or leaving the building. As it happened, no one came or went during the window of time she had set for the shoot. Lively car traffic instead dominates the static shot. The passing vehicles lend the pictorial space a horizontal structure. The hotel’s architecture looks timeless and anonymous. The car models, by contrast, unmistakably date the film to the 1970s. Several drivers notice the camera as they slow down and gaze into it with an expression of bewilderment.