In these lavish, glossy, and tempting books, a medley of splashes and bodies practically lunges at the reader from the pages, which are almost like pop-up books in their presentation and presentation.  Their apparent lack of seriousness suggests that they would make a wonderful winter gift, provided you are able to endure the tantalizing prospect of aquatic pleasure while it is freezing cold, raining, Outdoor Pool Exercise Swim Spa Pool or snowing outside on a regular basis.

 For the sake of consistency with the editors of most such books, Stoppard writes with a light touch and a limited word count in his book.  When accompanying photographs, he includes only a few well-chosen paragraphs that are intended to stand on their own.  What, on the other hand, are they saying?  When combined with the slightly kinky touch, it creates the illusion that the book is submerged in water, inviting the reader to jump right in.  Stoppard's collection contains photographs that have already been published in recent books, such as Hatje Cantz's stunning collection of classic twentieth-century photographs, The Swimming Pool in Photography (2018), which includes several of the photographs in his collection.  For his part, Stoppard uses a juxtaposition of iconic swimming pool images and modern swimming pool photography, allowing the viewer to see how the cultural imagination of the swimming pool has evolved over time.

 Let us consider the meticulously curated double-page spread that follows this post as an example.  Photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue captured this portrait of Marie Helvin in 1977 at the Eden Roc Hotel's pool on the French Riviera, which is displayed on one side of the book.  For all intents and purposes, it appears to be a standard glamour shot, Fibreglass Swimming Pool complete with a well-known photographer, a top model, and a luxurious setting.  A vision of ecstasy, on the other hand, can be found in the picture, which has been exquisitely realized.  Helvin is sitting with her head thrown back and her eyes closed, and her expression is one of tranquility and contentment.  The water bobs and dances in her jet-black locks, and it's impossible to take your gaze away from her.  In the portrait, which traces wild light-lines across her skin, which appears to be swabbed in a pool of sunlit Jell-O, Lartigue captures the paradox of erotic desire as innocent bliss in Helvin's deeply private sense of repose and pleasure, which is a deeply personal experience for him, as well as the paradox of erotic desire as innocent bliss in the portrait.

 It would be more accurate to describe Helvin's portrait as reverie rather than ecstasy: the act of closing one's eyes while submerged and disappearing into a personal and private realm that includes not only physical pleasure but also intimate emotional and psychological experience, made possible by the act of immersion.  As depicted in this photograph, the swimming pool is depicted as a magical entity that transports its subject to a dream-like world that is both outside of and beyond the confines of gravity.