Mária Švarbová Swimming Pools

Serene figures set amidst the modernist architecture of communist Czechoslovakia and inspired by her childhood memories, Švarbová’s images are all reflection, both aesthetically and internally. In many of the images, pools of water reflect the subjects’ doppelgängers in a dance of symmetry, one that tricks the eye into seeing these works as paintings and not straight photography.

Composition, colour, light, pattern, location, object, and subject enter the picture frame in a carefully orchestrated symphony of control and measure. The lightness and playfulness of these images presents yet another reflection in the work, as the images themselves present an antithesis of what we expect in Soviet aesthetics. By creating a contrast with pastel colours, her photographs offer a therapeutic experience for the eyes.