I think there could be a hundred different interpretations of this photograph from technical and aesthetic perspectives. I really like the photograph because of this.
Yes, aesthetically there are bright lights to draw our focus away from the swimmer, but that’s the reality of the competition – the swimmer must also block out all the distractions around them to concentrate on the task at hand.
A square crop may work from a techno-aesthetic perspective, but it shortens the expanse of what the swimmer has before him – that great empty void that he will be pounding down in the next second.
This photo is like the calm before the storm.
At first I had trouble with there being only one swimmer as it’s not really a competition then. But in the larger scheme of things, having only one swimmer can represent two things: (a) athletes are always competing against themselves, pushing for their next personal best; and (b) it’s that moment when an athlete blocks out the external down to just themself and the task at hand.
Yes, I’m reading a lot into the photograph, but that’s what it says to me. I wasn’t there; I have no idea if the photographer intended any of this, but art is what you take from it.
