As I’ve stated many times before, inspiration for my images invariably comes from the work of others. Here’s a quote I particularly like;
“Inspiration can come to us at any time and from many sources” - Jim Rohn
“The Swimmer” series was inspired by a photo that appeared in my Pinterest feed - it was an Art Deco bronze sculpture, 'Swim Series II’ by Deon Duncan (below).
I love the Art Deco period, particularly the fashion, and I instantly fell in love with the sculpture. Could I create something similar as an image?
Working with the ever adaptable Jane Riley and assisted by Marlies Chell I decided to give it a go… the Swimmer Project was born!
I thought the pose of Duncan’s swimmer made him look almost alien. I decided I wanted to go down that route, moving as far away from a recognisable human form as possible, so I bought a Morph costume on Amazon to make Jane look less human.
The column is a stand used to build music sets. Marlies’s dad built a top for the stand, Marlies made a sleeve for it & sprayed it.
I guess total time from concept to first shoot was around 3 months & cost circa £200.
Our first test shoot (in my lounge) was of the one pose and it immediately highlighted a problem - the Morph suit was way too large for Jane. It created lots of creases when she took up the poses and they were very difficult to take out in Photoshop. We ordered a new suit and Marlies took it in even further - poor Jane, it really was a tight squeeze to get in it!
On the second shoot we created 3 more poses, all inspired by Art Deco sculptures.
Results below - I’m really happy with them. Massive thanks to Jane and Marlies.
The Swimmer
'Swim Series II’ by Deon Duncan
