shashasha

The Japanese edition of Maria Svarbova’s “Swimming Pool” series.
With a background in restoration and archaeology, Maria Svarbova harbors a deep interest in swimming pools built in Slovakia under Soviet rule. In photographs as sterile, cold, and controlled as the swimming pools they depict, Svarbova stages minutely choreographed scenes of eery beauty in which the human body is never more than a prop, without individuality or emotion.

“Despite the retro setting, the pictures somehow evoke a futuristic feeling as well, as if they were taken somewhere completely alien. […]
The artificial detachment, created by Maria's visual vision, allows unique visual pleasure, unattainable in real life.”