Up Close: Pools

Photographer Stephan Zirwes’ ‘Pool’ series illustrates the incredible waste of potential drinking water – not only in private pools but also in the privatisation of a public asset for commercial reasons.

  • Words + Photography: Stephan Zirwes

The ‘Pools’ series is a study of water: one of the most precious resources for life on our planet. My approach was to show water as a location for entertainment, but also to show the incredible waste of potential drinking water – not only in private pools but also in the privatisation of a public asset for commercial reasons.

Public pools are an important reminder that water should be free and accessible to everyone. The clean formal language and the simple design of the pictures treat this newsworthy issue with an elegance… almost a playfulness. I copied parts of the original pool tiles and enlarged them in a clear, visible way to create a kind of mount in patterns and take the viewer on a deep dive into the blue.

Stephan Zirwes is an award-winning German photographer.

Article taken from

Issue 02
Articles

Further Reading

View All

Return to K2

Avaunt meets one of the greatest living mountaineers, Jake Meyer, to discuss what motivated his return to K2, the infamous mountain that defeated him seven years ago.

Budapest Fencers

The striking Honved Fencing Club in Budapest has been converted from a synagogue. Its impressive legacy includes producing a string of female fencing champions.

Up Close: Astra 3B

Simon Norfolk is the first artist to have been invited to watch the production and launch of a satellite from start to finish. He presents his unique perspective from the viewing station for the Astra 3B.

Castro, Cousteau and I

In 1985 Jacques Cousteau visited Cuba. He stepped off his legendary ship, Calypso, and into the welcoming arms of Fidel Castro. From the Plaza de la Revolución to the bottom of the sea, Paula DiPerna looks back on the months she spent with the unlikely pair.

Ripped Genes

The ever-growing bank of genomic data we have is radically transforming our world, and as with all revolutions it will spark both positive and negative consequences.

Up Close: Blue Room

The science behind absorbing radio waves in a Radio Anechoic Chamber dates back to World War II when it first helped planes absorb or scatter radar signals. Now the technology is used by the European Space Agency among others.
Browse by Category