SWIMTERVIEW

Soo Burnell’s photo series was created by chance but is now bringing the passion of pools to life. Ella Foote finds out more…

MY HAPPIEST CHILDHOOD MEMORIES ARE SITTING ATTHE BOTTOM OF A POOL OR GLIDING ALONG THE BOTTOM WITH MY STOMACH TOUCHING THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL. I JUST LOVED IT.

Soo Burnell’s famous Poolside series came about by chance. Back in January 2018, in love with architecture and shooting water as part of other projects, she visited Glenogle Swim Centre in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. “It was the first swimming pool I shot, and it was actually the swimming pool that I learned to swim in as a child,” says Soo. “It is such a beautiful pool with all the changing rooms around the edge of the pool. When I went back that day to do the shoot, I hadn’t been in it for years and years, yet it was still sitting there looking exactly the same.”

There are five public and one private Victorian swimming baths across Edinburgh. “That is quite a lot considering the size of the city,” says Soo. “The public pools are all taken on by a charity and they are great, well-functioning pools for people who love to swim.” After returning to Glenogle pool Soo decided it would be a good idea to document all the pools across Edinburgh. “I thought it would work really lovely as a collection,” she says. “I spent the rest of the year going around all of them and capturing each one. It was a personal project of interest but there was quite a buzz around it, people seemed to really resonate with it. There is a whole group of different people that it appeals to. A lot of swimmers, people that genuinely love being in a pool, but also people who just find them quite tranquil to look at as art pieces.”