The allure of the swimming pool – in pictures

The Swimming Pool in Photography, published in July by Hatje Cantz, explores the pool as object and enigma


  • A swimming pool at Mount Vernon Seminary and College, a women’s college in Washington DC, photographed in the 1920s or 30s
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    A swimming pool at Mount Vernon Seminary and College, a women’s college in Washington DC, photographed in the 1920s or 30s


  • Betty Slade, Great Britain’s champion diver, performing a back dive during a training session at Wood Green baths, London, in 1939
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    Betty Slade, Great Britain’s champion diver, performing a back dive during a training session at Wood Green baths, London, in 1939


  • Sunbathing at the Deligny pool in Paris, 1950
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    Sunbathing at the Deligny pool in Paris, 1950


  • The Holborn Oasis swimming pool in London, 1955
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    The Holborn Oasis swimming pool in London, 1955


  • Tourists at the Tahiti Motel pool in Wildwood, New Jersey, photographed between 1950 and 1966
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    Tourists at the Tahiti Motel pool in Wildwood, New Jersey, photographed between 1950 and 1966


  • The American swimmer Esther Williams performing in the musical showcase Esther Williams at Cypress Gardens, 1960
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    The American swimmer Esther Williams performing in the musical showcase Esther Williams at Cypress Gardens, 1960


  • A submerged car ‘parked’ by its drunken owner in a pool in Beverly Hills, California, in 1961
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    A submerged car ‘parked’ by its drunken owner in a pool in Beverly Hills, California, in 1961


  • Guests are served cocktails beside the dome-covered pool at the International Inn Hotel in Washington DC, 1963
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    Guests are served cocktails beside the dome-covered pool at the International Inn Hotel in Washington DC, 1963


  • An underwater evacuation drill is performed with a sunken plane at the Civil Aeromedical Institute in Oklahoma City, 1966
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    An underwater evacuation drill is performed with a sunken plane at the Civil Aeromedical Institute in Oklahoma City, 1966


  • A lawn chair remains as nature takes over the indoor pool area at the long-closed Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel in Liberty, New York, 2012
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    A lawn chair remains as nature takes over the indoor pool area of the long-closed Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel in Liberty, New York, 2012


  • An infinity pool at a clifftop house designed by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos in Alicante, Spain, 2012
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    An infinity pool at a clifftop house designed by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos in Alicante, Spain, 2012


  • The Brazilian diver Jucelino Junior dives from the 10-metre platform during a training session before the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Havana, Cuba, in 2014
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    The Brazilian diver Jucelino Junior dives from the 10-metre platform during a training session before the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Havana, Cuba, in 2014


  • The Dutch men’s water polo team swim for the ball during a World League match against Croatia in Eindhoven, Netherlands, in 2017
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    The Dutch men’s water polo team swim for the ball during a World League match against Croatia in Eindhoven, Netherlands, in 2017
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