Stunning Photo Series That Captures the Exquisitely Stark Sterile Symmetry of Synchronized Swimming

A post shared by Mária Švarbová (@maria.svarbova) on Jun 30, 2018 at 2:35am PDT

For her beautiful ongoing photo series, which began with the book Swimming Pool, photographer Mária Švarbová captured the exquisite symmetry of synchronized swimmers paired with their likenesses as reflected in the stark, still, sterile waters of different pools built in Slovakia during the Soviet era. This combination evokes a deliberately rigid sense of order combined with a quiet sense of lonely melancholy.

Sterile, geometric beauty of old pools set the tone for these photographs. Each of them pictures a different pool, usually built in the Socialist Era, in various locations in Slovakia. There is almost cinematographic quality to the highly controlled sceneries that Maria captures …Frozen in the composition, the swimmers are as smooth and cold as the pools tiles. The colors softly vibrate in a dream-like atmosphere. Despite the retro setting, the pictures somehow evoke a futuristic feeling as well, as if they were taken somewhere completely alien.