36 21 March 2020 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
I
n 2016, German photographer Stephan
Zirwes was happy to let us know he was
awarded third place in the professional
Architecture category at the Sony
World Photography Awards with his series,
Pools. In 2019, he was happy and proud to let
us know he was awarded fi rst place in the
professional Architecture category at the Sony
World Photography Awards with his series, Cut
Outs – Pools.
Two massive highs for a photographer who
has built a career by looking down. Stephan
started taking aerial photographs at the turn of
the millennium before drone technology
became affordable and readily available, and
there were not so many bird’s-eye shots.
For the 2016 winning series, a response to
the trend for private swimming pools, Stephan
photographed from a helicopter with a
Hasselblad 50MP in hand at a height of a few
hundred metres. This allowed the privacy of
the swimmers to be retained and leave them
relatively undisturbed. In the edit suite, he
would use Photoshop to remove distractions
and expand the tiles to frame and draw
attention to the pools. For his 2019 winning
series, focusing on public pools, Stephan
photographed using a drone at a height of only
a few metres creating bold details.
Most of us have poignant memories of
swimming pools. Teachers barking instructions
with a fl ock of spittle. Swimming goggles that
let in water. Too-tight swimming hats. Wrinkled
skin on fi ngers. Space Invader crisps as an
after-swim treat washed down with sparkling
blackcurrant from a cheap plastic cup. The
constant fear of verrucas, the discarded used
plaster or nappy. The random erection,
involuntary urination or skid mark on the towel.
Stephan’s photographs strip away nostalgia.
There’s something democratic and sanitising
about them, minimalist symbols that highlight the
importance and beauty of water. The entire pool
series, to some, is more than just a mosaic of pools
and patterns. They are ordinary objects portrayed
as something captivating and new. They aspire to
raise questions about the role of water in industry
and leisure at a time of global climate concern.Stephan believes that the private pool is a
cruel commodity that privatises a public asset
for commercial exploitation. Clean water, being
one of the world’s most needed resources, is
wasted in some parts of the world as a tool for
excessive entertainment. He consistently
denounces the waste and privatisation of water.
Stephan is not just about pools. He has
produced aerial photography collections on
water, snow and ice, football pitches, golf
courses, airfi elds, crops, construction and
vineyards among others. The work is deliberately
two-dimensional, playing with reality. One of his
fi rst exhibitions, in Dubai 2008, was about the
contrasts and crazy construction boom in the
Gulf region, titled How Real is Reality? He
continues to push the realms of reality with
recent series such as Tractors, Aircrafts and
Les Bateaux. Each object has minimum detail,
fi xed in a block of colour.Philosophy
The Opiom Gallery, France, states that
Stephan’s work ‘erases the physical borders
between reality and fi ction. Aesthetic and pure
at fi rst sight, his work reveals a deeper aspect
to the gazing eye. Indeed, he also investigates
political as well as social topics through the
structures, contrasts and connections
between the various components of his
images. Always at the edge of abstraction,
man happens to be at the centrepoint of his
focus. Yet, his photos don’t tell a story but
trigger an emotional vision.’ Well that’s the
philosophical French for you.
Reading this back through, sometimes
rhetoric, theory and meaning can be over
applied. Sometimes a photograph is just a
satisfying collection of shapes and colours.
What I do know is the work looks cracking on
Instagram. I’d be happy to hang a grid of his
Cut Outs – Pools in my summer house (if I had
one). If there was a game show for
photographers, it would be called Every Corner
Counts and Stephan would be undefeated
world champion – an orthogonal (I had to look
it up) operator of perfection and
precision. Did I mention he was German?In at the
deep end
This striking set of images by Stephan Zirwes took
home a Sony World Photography Award in the
A rchitecture category. Peter Dench fi nds out more
Photo Stories
Images from the award-winning series, ‘Pools’