Behind the Lens with: Soo Burnell

Inside, a dramatic mahogany tiered gallery runs around the main pool. White cast-iron columns stretch skywards. Light falls through the glass roof and lingers on the water below. White-painted timber beams criss-cross the roof, forming straight lines and angles. The space is vast, cavernous, but feels warm, welcoming. The architecture has a quiet simplicity. The pool feels calm, serene. The gorgeous muted colour palette feels restful. Deep mahogany timber anchors light aqua blues and whites. There is a sense of lightness. A feeling you want to breathe in. It is a space that allows you to breathe out. 

The Swimmer is framed in perfect squares by white pillars. Diminutive in this vast space. Dramatic in scale. Graceful in the sun-dappled pool. Serene, weightless, carefree. The white swimming cap and turquoise suit merge with water and light. Mirror images and reflections created everywhere. Pool edge, railings and tiles. She stares ahead to the glass ceiling. Preserved in time.

My Poolside work explores my passion for architecture and composition, capturing the striking geometry, dramatic proportion and atmosphere of each individual space. I enjoy carefully using blocks of colour to show interesting shape and proportion. The eye is drawn into the architecture, then the symmetry and reflections of the water, resting finally on the swimmer which is used for scale. I love the orderliness of symmetry, I find it calms my busy mind. Finally there is nostalgia in my work, which is something that came from the project as opposed to something I set out to achieve. 

Scotland has many incredible old pools and each one is a uniquely special building. But more than that, these buildings evoke a feeling of time standing still, of holidays that stretch on and on. They are a view to the past while remaining rooted in the present; the everyday of children’s swimming lessons and commuters diving in at the end of a long day at the office. Each one is a working pool that happens to be stunningly beautiful, a living history that safely houses its intricate details, preserved in time for us to enjoy forever.

soo-burnell.com