Senato Explorations: the vision of Marco van Rijt

MARCO VAN RIJT, a Dutch photographer, lives and works between Copenhagen and Paris. In his images, he weaves together still life, fashion, and an almost instinctive attention to everyday beauty: an aesthetic made of details, light, and subtle shifts in perspective.

On the occasion of the Fall 2025 issue of MY Magazine Travel, Marco stayed at Senato Hotel Milano to capture both the city and the hotel through his lens. From this dialogue came SENATO EXPLORATIONS, an exclusive photographic project that extends the gaze beyond the rooms and interior spaces to the streets and courtyards surrounding the hotel.

In your shots, Milan and the Senato Hotel Milano converse as a single landscape. What guided you in choosing which angles to capture? 

I'm always inspired by new places and trying to find interesting perspectives of different spots that might not bring someone to their attention immediately. I'm intrigued by beauty because it's so personal, that's why you will see something more raw next to something a bit more classic. 

Your vision was born in fashion: how does this background influence your travel photography? 

I like to take images when I travel because I'm not always looking for that perfect image, that precisely controlled image, and I feel freer when I'm travelling and taking images because I have more time and there is less pressure. 

Which aspects of Milan struck you the most during this project, and how do you find this beauty reflected in the Senato Hotel Milano? 

I loved the nature aspect of the hotel and I found that back next to Villa Necchi at a beautiful home surrounded by greenery, I did captured it but it didn't fit the series but I loved the greenery growing over some balconies I thought that was quite beautiful and that same greenery/nature aspect comes back at the hotel, the little garden and in front of the hotel at the balconies as well which is very beautiful.

Discover the full SENATO EXPLORATIONS series on the Instagram profile of Senato Hotel Milano.
Marco van Rijt (Instagram)