I was thinking about images of rooms I’ve really loved, and this one sprang to mind. Although there’s not much to see, it’s so atmospheric and makes me just want to be there. Used as the back cover for Leonard Cohen’s 2nd album Songs From A Room, it’s a photograph of his then girlfriend Marianne on the island of Hydra. I don’t know what it is – the improvised desk, the shutters, the super-deep walls – but it adds up to frugal island perfection.

Here is another view of what I would imagine is the same house, if not room.

I heard Marianne herself interviewed about her time with Laughing Len recently on the radio, and you can find an interview online here. And as for that room, well it turns out it exists pretty much unchanged.

2004 Jarkko Arjatsalo