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
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