marieclaire.com.au (^) | 35
There’s something alluring about
synchronised swimmers. They look
picture perfect, moving around
gracefully with their dazzling smiles.
But this impeccability also throws up
questions, like “What is really going
on behind those serene masks?”
Photographer Emma Hartvig is
interested in what’s hidden beneath
the perfection. In her documentary
The Swimmers, she explores the
tension that arises when people have
to be in control all the time. “All of my
life, I’ve been very interested in the
idea of glamorous Hollywood stars or
swimmers,” says Hartvig. “The whole
Marilyn Monroe thing – you know, sad
and tired but beautiful. Synchronised
swimmers, the old-school ones, they’re
very performative. It’s [all] about their
red lips and being smiley. I’m interested
in the opposite of that.”
Hartvig asked the women to
wear white costumes and no make-up,
telling them to “‘try to be natural, not
smile and just float and close their eyes’.
I wanted it to be the opposite of what
synchronised swimming usually is.”
WOMEN LIVING FEARLESSLY AROUND THE GLOBE
US
UNDER
THE
SURFACE
A female photographer aims to
strip back the feel-good facade
of old-Hollywood glamour
Los Angeles-based
swimming team The
Aqualillies, photographed
by Emma Hartvig.
sharon
(sharon)
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