For the better part of the last century, photographers of all kinds have been drawn toward pools, whether for the way their reflective forms are captured by cameras or their role in social gatherings. The resulting images are the subject of Pools: Lounging, Diving, Floating, Dreaming: Picturing Life at the Swimming Pool ( $65, Rizzoli ), edited by writer Lou Stoppard.

“I’ve wanted to do this book for years, so I’ve been collecting great pool photographs for a very long time,” Stoppard tells AD . “Part of this was to show the way that the swimming pool has remained a seductive place for photographers as years have passed. It sounds negative to call it a trope, but in a way, it is. Pool pictures litter the history of photography.”

Stoppard herself has a history with pools—she was a competitive swimmer as a teen. “When I went to university, I stopped swimming entirely, and I didn’t get back into the pool for years,” she says. “I started to notice that I’d become slightly fearful of water. I knew I wanted to cure that fear, so I started swimming constantly. Lakes, rivers, ponds, pools—I’d get in. I am something of an obsessive swimmer!”

For the book, Stoppard compiled photographs by a range of photographers—both famous names and lesser-known talent who worked across industries from fashion to documentary—arranged by theme. “It would have been easy to organize the book chronologically or by photographer, but I wanted to do something that really captured the joy of swimming and spoke of the myriad ways water can make you feel,” says Stoppard. “It’s a nice wandering bibliography: a reading list for people to go away and work through.” In essence, it’s the escape we all need right now.

Romain Laprade, Richard England, Aquasun Lido, St. Julians, Malta, 1983, photographed 2018. Romain Laprade captures architect Richard England’s iconic Aquasun Lido in Malta.

Oliver Hadlee Pearch, “Californication,” British Vogue , March 2019. “I think people will be surprised when reading the book about the significance that the pool has had in fashion photography,” says Stoppard. “The first photographic cover of British Vogue, by Edward Steichen, was actually a pool image. It was released in July 1932.”

Alice Hawkins, Dylan and Paris Brosnan, “Hollywood Sons,” L’Uomo Vogue, Bel Air, 2016. Pools are a part of the landscape in Los Angeles.

Daragh Soden, Toulon. Photographer Daragh Soden captures the architectural quality of pools.

Polly Brown, Bagno di Romagna, Italy , 2014. “I hope that people find the book truly joyful, and that they see how significant the pool and swimming have been in the creative imagination, not just amongst photographers, but writers and artists too,” says Stoppard.

Sølve Sundsbø, Think Tanks, Frank, June 1998, on the cover of Pools: Lounging, Diving, Floating, Dreaming: Picturing Life at the Swimming Pool . “The cover image of the book was shot by Sølve Sundsbø in the 1990s,” says Stoppard. “I asked him why the pool is so popular in photography and he said, ‘It almost invites you to take a photograph. It’s a premade studio.’ I think that’s very true.”

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