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Stefano Nicolini 
Tonic Nakedness 
[Swimming Pools (Piscine)] 
2009 
  
Colour slide 35 mm, printed on Hahnemuehle Baryta paper 
100 x 65 cm 
  
Provided by the artist - Stefano Nicolini 
 
LL/37495 
  
In Piscine [Swimming pools] the Diver represents the thinking man. There is a clear distinction between the Diver and the Swimmer. The latter leaves the starting blocks immediately and, with no time to think, he repeats the very same movement until the end. On the contrary, when the diver receives communication from the judge that it is his turn, he reaches the rim of the diving board or the platform and spends several instants mentally re-elaborating the dive he is getting ready to do. It is a more elaborated athletic act compared to the swimmer's, and accomplished in a much quicker time frame.
 
For his capability to stop and think, and for the larger variety of movements which he shows in his athletic act, the diver, that is the thinking man, is supported by the spectators. In fact, the crowd is present in all of the photos of the third series, that is the Divers, with the exception of Il Tuffatore [The Diver] and Carnalita Esplosiva 1 [Explosive Carnality 1].
 
In Tonica Nudita [Tonic Nakedness], which I actually classify as a Photo-Drawing, the action of the two synchronized diving athletes is absolutely human in the physicality of their movement which, with the aid of a tonic nakedness (title of the work), regains an explosive carnality. There is a clear contrast between the loneliness in which the Swimmers are portrayed, and this explosive and joyful carnality which is supported by the carnality revealed in the flamming chromatisms of the crowd on the terraces. This confirms the human essence of the diver's athletic act.
 
As in the rest of Piscine [Swimming pools] I made use of analog photography, and here with a very long exposure time. Therefore, owing to the absolute quickness of the athlete's dive from the 3 metre diving board, it was very difficult to find the right framing and synchronize it with the very short and single instant in which I had the perception that the camera was putting the athlete into focus. In the performances from the 10 metre platform I had a couple of extra seconds to find the framing, but it was still impossible to take a second photo in which the scene could be put into focus again.
 
The brighter segment which hits the two divers horizontally in the lower part of the photograph, seems to be keeping them in the air as if to perpetuate the elegance of their movement. In the pike position, the muscles sculpt the anatomy of the athlete in the forefront. The homogeneity of the light enables to concentrate on the action and appreciate the strokes of colour in the background supporting it.
 
Stefano Nicolini (July 2010) 
 

 
  
 
  
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