STRAF hotel&bar, a revolutionary concept born in the heart of Milan with the aim of breaking traditional hotel industry standards, presented on Tuesday, February 25th, the second chapter of STRAF HUB, a cultural project created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the hotel, highlighting how this place has always been an incubator capable of welcoming and supporting the most contemporary forms of creativity, signing projects that aim to renew the rules of hospitality.
The protagonist of this new edition is photographer Tarin with the exhibition INTIMACY, an artistic and sensual reinterpretation of the spaces at Via San Raffaele.
After the success of STRAFtellers, in which the hotel’s universe was portrayed in a literary key through the work of seven talented Italian writers, authors of seven unpublished stories, the iconic design hotel reopened its doors to creativity with a photographic exhibition, offering an opportunity to explore the unique spaces designed by Vincenzo De Cotiis through revolutionary and avant-garde perspectives.
“We are thrilled to host Tarin’s work, which perfectly embodies the ideals that inspired the creation of STRAF HUB,” says Sarah Mancino, owner of STRAF hotel&bar. “This is an exhibition of great artistic value, to which I am particularly attached, as I had the honor of posing for some of the shots.”
The exhibition, visible until April 5, 2025, features over 30 black-and-white analog photographs taken inside STRAF, where every corner of the hotel – from the rooms to the lounge, from the bathrooms to the corridors – becomes the stage for a visual narrative exploring the human body in its most intimate facets.
“The cinematic images that moved me the most were those filmed in hotel rooms,” says Tarin. “From the final scene of Les Enfants du Paradis to that of A Room with a View, hotels have always been places of great intimacy and desire. With INTIMACY, I aim to convey, through my photographs, the emotions that a unique place like STRAF evokes in its guests: a sense of mystery and sensuality that we often lose in the frenzy of everyday life.”
Tarin’s images are characterized by a strong erotic charge, which upends the paradigms of the female nude. The subject breaks free from conventional stereotypes and voyeuristic gazes to become a symbol of vital strength, emancipation, and sensuality.
In the shots taken for INTIMACY, the clean, rational lines of the building contrast with the soft, sinuous curves of the women depicted, protagonists of images that break the fourth wall, inviting the observer to participate in intimate everyday scenes.
Tarin’s figures are sculptural, either nude or veiled by the dramatic drapery of a sheet or towel, with their plastic and refined poses evoking a timeless aesthetic imagery: from the Muses to the Graces, from bathers to odalisques. A vein of provocation runs through the entire exhibition, recalling the iconic shots of Helmut Newton.
The setup, suggestive and immersive, plays with varied and sometimes unusual formats, unfolding along the ground floor of the building and enriching the visitor's experience. It is a journey that invites reflection on intimacy and desire, immersing the audience in an enveloping atmosphere full of meaning.
About Tarin
Born in Rimini, Tarin graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna before moving to Milan, where she currently lives and works. Since 2008, she has pursued an artistic path that led her to create photographic works dedicated to the feminine world, enhancing its most intimate essence. From that moment, staying true to film photography, she began a personal journey focused on the idea of identification between artist and subject, revealing the sensual and psychological components of the female nude.
She has published three monographs and a limited edition calendar with NFC editions: Stanze Private, Tarin, Guiltless, Tarin 2024. Sky Arte has dedicated a documentary to her work titled: Lady Tarin: Next Girl. Photographers, second series.
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