Piscina Lido
The Lido Swimming Pool
The swimming pool suggests an atmosphere of holiday,
of week-end, of relaxation, defining a culture of
pleasure characteristic for the elite. In the
meanwhile, the relaxation space for the humble
classes is the Mosilor Fair. This fact confirms the
idea that there is a correspondence between the
social position of a group and the tastes of this
group when coming to activities and goods.
The hippodrome and the swimming pool represent
though, equally, spaces for the clothing show. The
proof: The two young women from the pool are making
a fashion because their two swimsuits are almost
identically. The swimming pool fashion. And the
swimming pool fashion is not just about sports.
Because the young girls are wearing shoes. At least
one of them, the one from the right, has a wet body
(we can see the drops of water). Could she have got
in the water with her shoes on? Not likely. They
represent an accessory that does not have
functionality in this space.
And still, the two girls have matched them with
their swimsuits. The explanation is that the girls
are posing, so they adopted an attitude for the
photographer. They “fixed” themselves a little.
The young girls have a certain way of
showing their bodies. They look straight forward,
without any restraints, they smile. They ask to the
looker a social response, they are trying to set
complicity or at least an affinity with that who
looks at them (obviously, a man). They now they are
being watched and they stimulate the look. They turn
their bodies into the object of a look. But
Ionescu’s look does not answer. And by this it
remains extra-diegetic. Because in the rare moments
when the women pose for him, even in swimsuits, the
photos are not sensual. Because the women always
pose in groups. The photographer is not searching
for the woman (this could mean commitment). The
group is the only one who can highlight the
recurrent element, so representative for… It is even
proved by the title of the photo: “The Lido Swimming
Pool”. Although it represents the central element of
the image, the photographer’s note confirms the fact
that the two girls represent a simple attribute of
the swimming pool.
