Swimming Pool

This is Maria Svarbova first book due to popular demand from her largest and continuing series Swimming Pool. Sparked by a hunt for interesting location in Slovakia, her fascination with the space of public swimming pools contributed to developing her visual style. Sterile, geometric beauty of old pools, usually built in the Socialist Era, set the tone for these photographs. There is almost a theatrical quality to the highly controlled sceneries that Maria captures. The figures are mid-movement, but there is no joyful playfulness to them. Frozen in the composition, the swimmers are as smooth and cold as the pools tiles. The colours softly vibrate in a dream-like atmosphere. Despite the retro setting, the pictures somehow evoke a futuristic feeling as well, as if they were taken somewhere completely alien.