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A phone-first introduction
How to photograph liminal spaces
You need three things: an ordinary place at its quiet hour, permission to be there, and the phone already in your pocket. The rest is a handful of decisions about what to put in the frame and what to leave out.
Most photos of empty places are just photos of empty places. A cleared-out spare bedroom is empty, and nobody stops scrolling for it. The pictures people remember come from a few small choices about what the frame includes. This page covers the essentials. Liminal Spaces Photography takes each of them on location, step by step, with worked examples. If you want to know why these places affect us at all, start with what a liminal space is.
What makes a photo feel liminal?
A liminal photograph shows a threshold, a place between one moment and the next: built for people, ready for them, and caught without them. Five decisions do most of the work, and good pictures break two or three of them.
- Show that the place is ready. Lights on, chairs squared, a clean floor. Total decay changes the question to "why did they leave?"
- Decide about people. A person tells the viewer the size of the room and the time of day. Leave them out, and their belongings too.
- Show the way out, or hide it. A daylit door or a clock answers a question the viewer would otherwise keep asking.
- Keep it general. A chain logo hands the viewer one specific memory. A plain "Exit" sign belongs.
- Let repetition run off the edge. A row of doors that runs out of the frame makes the room feel bigger than the picture.
Where and when should you go?
An ordinary building at a quiet hour is enough; you do not need an abandoned one. A food court packed at noon is lit, clean and empty at 8:15 in the morning. Malls before the stores open, hotels when you are a guest, stations between trains, laundromats late at night, and city streets on a holiday morning or in fog all give you liminal zones in places you already know. Being welcome matters more than any camera setting.
Can you photograph a place that is open to the public?
A mall, a hotel lobby or a station concourse is open to anyone, but somebody owns or runs it and sets the rules. A few quiet phone pictures rarely bother anyone. Ask first if you want a tripod or a longer stay, say it is a personal project, and if staff ask you to stop, thank them and go. Laws differ by country and state, so treat this as general guidance, not legal advice. The book has a full chapter on venues, public places, privacy and posting.
How do you get people out of the frame?
The most reliable method is patience: be there when the place empties and wait for the gap. A hotel corridor clears between checkout and housekeeping, and a platform empties for a minute after each train. A long exposure blurs people who keep moving, and eraser apps can fill small gaps, though many communities ban AI-edited pictures. Whichever you use, say how the picture was made, and never photograph children, swimmers or staff without asking.
How do you compose an empty room?
With nothing happening, the subject is the space itself. Find the vanishing point, stand square to it, and hold the phone level so door frames stay upright; turning on the camera grid helps. Centering the vanishing point makes a picture look deliberate and slightly too perfect, the way Kubrick framed his corridors. Moving it off center suggests the space goes on around a corner. Before you press, check the four corners and the far end: a stray bin pulls the eye out, while a bend or a dim end leaves the question open.
What about light and color?
You take the light the building gives you, and it is often odd. Your eyes adjust to the tint of old fluorescent tubes and the camera adjusts less, so pictures come out green. You can correct it, keep it, or meet it halfway; a little of the original cast often looks more convincing than a perfect correction. Black and white is the other answer, since it hides mixed light in one move. There is more on this in why fluorescent light looks green.
How should you share your pictures?
Phone photos usually record where they were taken, so switch off location when you share, and skip exact directions to private places. A plain title like "Food court before opening" is enough. The large liminal space communities on Reddit generally want original photos without people and frown on heavy editing and self-promotion; rules change, so read each one before you post. For what the community celebrates, see the examples.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a real camera to photograph liminal spaces?
No. A current phone is enough, and it is easier to carry into the places that suit this subject. Turn on the grid, keep the phone level, and consider a small tripod. If you already own a dedicated camera, the same ideas apply.
Is it legal to photograph inside a mall?
It depends on where you are and on the owner. A mall is private property open to the public, and the owner sets the rules. Casual phone pictures are often tolerated, but ask the management office before using a tripod or staying long, and leave if asked. This is not legal advice.
How do I get people out of the picture?
Go at a quiet hour and wait for the gap. A long exposure blurs people who keep moving, though not people standing still. Eraser apps can fill small gaps but count as AI edits, which many communities ban. Whatever you use, say how you made the picture.
Why do my photos look green under fluorescent lights?
Your brain adjusts to the tint of the light and the camera adjusts less completely, so old fluorescent tubes often photograph green. You can correct it in any editing app, but decide first whether some green belongs to the place. Keeping part of the cast often looks more convincing.
What is a liminal zone in photography?
People use liminal zone loosely for the in-between parts of a building or a city: corridors, stairwells, platforms, lobbies and car parks, places you pass through rather than stay in. Photographed empty, at an hour when they should be busy, they are the raw material of most liminal space pictures.