The Pool (2002-2005)

Untitled #7, 2002, 30x30" c-print (also available in 20x20")

In The Pool series Laval utilizes photography's ability to create visual narratives which echo moments from her childhood. The choice of a unified color palette, with saturated and bleached-out tones, is reminiscent of the qualities of super-8 home movies and reinforces the ambiguous relation between reality and fiction. Beyond her personal memory Laval is also trying to reveal a collective memory through the common and universal experience of leisure and bathing. She's also interested in the notion of space and the relationship we entertain with the environment in which we live. Swimming pools and beach resorts represent a dominant theme of modern life in our culture and mix the natural element of water with the cultural and social element of a manmade environment. Although the activities and expressions of the bathers are familiar and spontaneous, the scenes captured by Laval appear to be composed by a silent choreographer when moments are isolated and frozen within the frame of the camera.

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Untitled #6, 2002, 30x30" c-print (also available in 20x20")

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Untitled #99, 2002, 30x30" c-print (also available in 20x20")

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Untitled #21, 2002, 30x30" c-print (also available in 20x20")

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Untitled (Cascais), 2002, 48x48" c-print (also available in 30x30")

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Untitled #2, 2002, 30x30" c-print (also available in 20x20")

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Untitled #4, 2002, 30x30" c-print (also available in 20x20")