Hey, Hot Shot! Entries: Carlo Van de Roer
Untitled (swim 1) by Summer ‘07 contender Carlo Van de Roer
I used to have this theory that all people with brilliant names are destined to be winners in the game of life, if winning means international acclaim and success: Quentin Tarantino, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ennio Morricone–these are just a few examples. Today’s contender, Carlo Van de Roer is on the verge of being one of those people, but if his name doesn’t blow you away, then his photos sure will.
This photo reminds me of 10th grade geometry class with my super tall and similarly well-named teacher, Mr. Munsterteiger. Everything about this photo comes across as precise and calculated, from the strategically framed lines to the placement of the bathing bodies amidst the wide blue water. There is also a Legoland feel to the photo, as if it were a miniature model as opposed to a real event.
On Van de Roer’s website, I found more photos that I liked from his series of pools, like this pretty one and this one, which reminded me of the architectural photography of Julius Schulman. He also has another series on his site entitled “Swim”, in which the above photo belongs. Out of those, I adore this one and this one, which makes it look like those people are swimming through clouds.
Of his photographic fascination with swimming and pools, Van de Roer says:
I am interested in the landscape as a recreational and social space. Swimming pools and the sea dominate much of my work, as I attempt to examine and reconnect with the environments that surrounded me growing up on the North Island of New Zealand. This series focuses on outdoor swimming pools and public baths — sites where the normally parallel spheres of social interaction and solitary communion with nature intersect. Viewed from above, patterns and groupings of people emerge, revealing their interactions both with each other and with their surroundings.
Carlo Van de Roer was born in 1975 in Wellington on the North Island of New Zealand. There he attained a B.F.A. in photography from Victoria University. He left New Zealand in 1999 and has since traveled the world extensively, taking photographs in Central America, Asia, Europe, and finally in the U.S., where he currently resides in New York.
Aside from his water-based work, he also has another series on his site called “Blinded by the Light”, which looks as if it was set in the Natural History Museum and starts off with an awesome electric blue photo of running wolves.
That’s it for today, folks! Be sure to say your prayers and enter the competition before you go to bed tonight!
