The Pool

So there I was a couple of weeks back mucking around doing not a lot, and none of what I should have been - you know the usual muddling around I do. And I get a call from a photographer friend who (and I'm sure he'll agree) can piss about with the best of them. But today he had plans. He needed to take some shots. And he needed an assistant. And a model. And, dare I say it, good company for the drive to location (and back). Naturally he thought of me, knowing that I could do all that if in the mood. Needless to say I was, cos doing something sure beats doing nothing. And even though we were 'working' I knew he wouldn't mind if I took a camera along for the ride, just in case something caught my eye. And sure enough something did ...

This is the story of the images I made that day. Thanks Paul for the trip. Thanks James for the film.

This was the location. An abandoned public swimming pool. At least it had been abandoned as far as being a public swimming pool went, but it was still frequented by locals (and the odd out of town photographer).

Still outside the fence, but even I could see it wasn't going to make for a great swim, which was a shame cos it was almost swimming weather (when the sun was shining), not that I'm much of a swimmer - even on good days.

We beat the high class security system (i.e. we walked through the gate) and against all odds made it onto the premises.

I braved the depths of the pool and got closer. You know that old Robert Capa adage "if your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough." It wasn't. I did.

(Just as an aside Capa is also quoted as saying "It's not enough to have talent, you also have to be Hungarian." which is quite good - and funny to boot.)

Oh look. That's from the other side of the pool. Oh and another old chair. There were a lot of them around. Anyone would think people were congregating there ... at night, drinking piss, smoking up a storm, dancing naked under the full moon etc.

Of course I had to have a bit of an explore while Paul muddled about. To be fair I think he was actually just taking shots where he didn't need me to do my Paris Milan Roma model thang.

Anyone for tennis? It'd be interesting to find the history of this place. It was obviously a recreation centre, what with the swimming pool, tennis courts, and sports fields. And equally obviously it's not really up to it anymore. Yet the net's still there. There's no fencing around the outside (despite the fence posts), yet the net's still there!

If you look hard you may pick out the rugby post (on the left) and the soccer post (on the right).

And here we are back at the pool. I think this was the utility shed. Now it's just a nice grungy fashion shoot location. If you knew how to find the place. And I ain't telling you. Not that I'm sworn to secrecy. It's just not my place to tell.
Oh and back in the pool again. Not literally, but back inside the fence. About to get back in the pool. For more of my Paris Milan Roma model thang.

And again. A bit later in the day. Sun going down. Hmmm. That warm late afternoon light. I'll let you in on a little known fact. That mix of yellow light and blue sky is about my favourite light in the world - not that I photograph it very often. If you're ever in Wellington on a sunny autumn day, look over at Mt. Victoria late afternoon and you'll see glorious light like this.

And the last shot of the day - for me at least. I was out of film. It's probably my favourite shot of the day too, due to the lighting, the composition, and the dark exposure. Also Paul got a shot of me taking this, and I used the same exposure settings he did, so that's kinda cool. Paul however wasn't out of film so we kept going - until he was doing 15sec exposures at f2.8, and I was having issues staying still that long (it got cold really fast after the sun disappeared, okay?!)

So there we go. One photographer (okay there were two of us but only one took these photos). One location. One camera (okay there were two of them - in fact more cos I had my Agfa Isolette III as well, and Paul had his F5 I think, and probably his ELX too). One roll of film (okay Paul shot about 7, but this is all about ME, okay?!! It's my blog so it's all about ME, ME, ME!!!).