There is something about the power of quietude. Not the silence, but the way an image or movement can capture graceful tranquility and create an impact without words. Deanna Templeton’s The Swimming Pool series is not only a testament to the power of restraint, but to the beauty of human form and space. 

“This body of work is beautiful and lyrical in a very timeless way,”  says Thomas Campbell, publisher of Um Yeah Arts, the house releasing Deanna Templeton’s The Swimming Pool book this month. “I think this series will go down as a powerful movement in Deanna's career.” We spoke with Deanna about the origins of the series and her rule of being flexible.

Evan Pricco: What attracted you to the pool?
Deanna Templeton: Seeing my husband, Ed, swim around, nude and free, my own experience of swimming, and the quietness of being underwater.

When did you realize you had a series going?
For the most part, a series is started after I review my photos and see that some have a reoccurring theme to them, but the Swimming Pool series was a little different. I shot about four or five photos of Ed, who was taking a skinny dip in our pool one day. When I got the proof sheets back, I liked what I saw, so I decided to run with it. Then I started to ask friends, and friends of friends, if they would be down to swim for me.

In considering a book, when did you start feeling like you had something that could be turned into a complete and definable collection?
I started to accumulate and produce a lot of images. Actually, I imagine that most photographers hope, wish and dream about publishing their work. I think, when sitting around with your photos, if you like them, you start to visualize them in book form. I made earlier layouts of what this Swimming Pool book might look like, though it has changed considerably since then.  

What were those changes? Did you start the book and then go back and add more?
It took me about eight years of shooting. I would only shoot in the summertime when I had more direct overhead sunlight to work with. My backyard has a patio cover, and I didn’t want its shadow to creep into the shot, so I had about a three or four-hour window every day. And then I also didn’t know how to work our pool heater! I wanted to make sure the swimmers were comfortable, so the summer heat helped out there.

I think I needed the eight years of shooting; the more I shot, the more I knew what I was and wasn’t looking for. Actually, I thought I was finished in 2014, but Thomas, who is putting out the book, suggested that I shoot one more summer. He thought the book needed maybe two or three more swimmers. At first I was a little put off, thinking I was done, but then when I knocked the chip off my shoulder, I called up some friends and they turned out to be in some of the best shots I’ve made for this book!

You have captured this very specific story of Southern California. And what is really amazing is how you have found so many different ways of documenting it. What continues to inspire you about Orange County, and have any new series come out of that inspiration?
Orange County, actually Huntington Beach, is where I was born and where my parents are laid to rest. This is my home. I have many memories from here, and photography is a way for me to stay connected with my past. I have two newer series that I’m working on. One is about Huntington Beach, where Ed and I take an afternoon walk downtown almost every day. Just shooting the locals, the passersby and everything in between. We hope someday to publish a two-volume book, a his and hers take on H.B. The other series is still in the works but it will deal with me, personally, when I was between the ages of 14-18.

The Swimming Pool is published by Um Yeah Arts and will be released in May, 2016.

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Originally published in the May, 2016 issue, on newsstands worldwide and in our webstore.