Duncan Raban

Health Club

At my local gym I see lots of wonderful photo opportunities such as fab oldies laughing and joking in the pool, children having fun with their parents, laughter from men in the showers covered in soap, kids drying their hair and parents holding babies.

This is a place where most people visit. However, they never think to photograph themselves and family at their local club.

At a pool we remove our masks -our clothes that make us the people we want people to think we are.In the swimming pool we are all the same as one another, bare in our costumes, our hair wet, and our often-pale bodies for all to see. So I decided to take my camera in and started to talk to and engage with people. They let me photograph them in their trunks, towels etc, some even in the showers (of course in their costumes).

I have found that swimming pools are such wonderful places to capture people as who they really are.

It’s funny most people go through their whole lives never being photographed in their pool or gym -it’s just seen as ‘not the thing to do’. However, I feel it’s one of the best things to do because it’s a memory of a particular part of your life and it’s unexpected. I think its one of the best places to shoot people.

I now have montages displayed on the walls all around my local David Lloyd gym.

So my lesson to you all here is that to try this yourself- shoot your family in the pool and get people to shoot you and your kids. Yes you will have the attendants say you aren’t allowed to do this etc but just try- everyone is mostly happy in the pool.

take some fun shots of your children in their costumes and towels wrapped up around them, in the swimming pool, or laughing in the showers. These will become such precious memories, mini heirlooms. These photos of people in the pool are pictures to treasure forever and I hope you agree too!