LENSCRATCH - Fine Art Photography Daily

Danielle L Goldstein: Transience by Aline SmithsonJuly 19, 2026

©Danielle L Goldstein, Book Cover or Transience, published by Schilt Publishing & Gallery

Danielle L Goldstein has recently released the book, Transience, published by Schilt Publishing & Gallery. It’s a book about time, place, and memory. There is something about travel, about being in a new bed, in a new city, that creates an inner narration that brings us back to the core of who we are. Our lives have gotten so complex, that the sanctuary of a new bed allows us time to connect with our solitary selves.

At first glance, this appears to be a photography book, but it is equally a diary, a memoir, and a family album. Spanning fourteen years, the photographs trace not only a journey through hotels and unfamiliar cities, but also the evolution of a life. Each image becomes a marker of time, revealing how travel, memory, and personal experience become inseparable.

What begins as an exploration of anonymous hotel rooms gradually transforms into something far more intimate. As the artist returns again and again to these temporary spaces, the photographs evolve from carefully constructed observations into a deeply personal record of love, family, loss, and renewal. The result is a book that reminds us that while we may travel to new places, we inevitably carry ourselves and our stories wherever we go.

©Danielle L Goldstein, Book Cover or Transience, published by Schilt Publishing & Gallery

©Danielle L Goldstein, Spread from Transience, published by Schilt Publishing & Gallery

©Danielle L Goldstein, Spread from Transience, published by Schilt Publishing & Gallery

©Danielle L Goldstein, ROOM 2242, from Transience, published by Schilt Publishing & Gallery

Transience

I began this project 14 years ago in an ancient hotel room in Seville, Spain. The room felt haunted, and I started thinking about the many souls that had inhabited that space before me.

What were their lives like? What parts of themselves did they bring to that room, and what did they leave behind? The first self-portrait I made for this project is a ghosted image where I am not clearly defined. I am an “everywoman,” a placeholder for the countless souls who inhabited the room.

I have photographed myself in every hotel room I have ever stayed in. Initially, I set strict rules for the work, only photographing myself, and only in an unrecognizable way. It was a dispassionate examination of these transient spaces. As time went on, I loosened the rules for the project, and I started photographing a little differently. I began to show my face and other people in the room: my husband, my children, and, occasionally, my sister or a friend.

In 2017, my world blew up when my husband and I separated. It was only a couple of years later that I realized that this project was, at its core, a visual diary of my life. The original images, somewhat impersonal and carefully composed, reflected my life at the time—its order, correctness, and surface perfection. In the images made during my separation and subsequent divorce, the pain is palpable. And in the aftermath of the divorce (which happened during Covid) and my slow recovery (which coincided with the world’s recovery), the joy in making these images has returned.

This work is highly personal, a diary of sorts of my midlife. While I appreciate my privilege in being able to visit these beautiful places, my pain was real and all-encompassing, as has been my rebirth. I truly hope that this body of work can offer a bit of solace and hope to anyone who is feeling challenged by their circumstances.

Travel exposes us to new experiences, cultures, and people. It allows us insight into how other people live, which ultimately makes us more empathetic. And it provides a respite from our daily lives. Yet what this project has taught me is that no matter how far away we travel, no matter how exotic or unfamiliar the locale, we take ourselves with us wherever we go. – Danielle L Goldstein,