Model in Swimsuit, 1936, Dora Maar, gelatin silver print
© Dora Maar Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris
Transcript
[ethereal ambient music intertwined with lapping water sound effects]
MALE NARRATOR: Light and shadow dance across a bathing beauty, clad in a daring two-piece swimsuit. Her arms are raised above her head in a statuesque pose as she appears to float, unencumbered, in a pool. [lapping water sound effect ends] The longer you look, the more it may seem like this woman is drifting through a dream.
MELANIE PULLEN: It’s like an optical illusion in a way.
MALE NARRATOR: Los Angeles-based photographer, Melanie Pullen:
MELANIE PULLEN: I was shocked and I realized that it’s a composite image, but it took a moment, so at first you have that, very split second when you think a woman’s floating, and then as you’re looking closer, it becomes this surreal fantasy.
MALE NARRATOR: This photograph was taken in 1936 by French artist, Dora Maar, who integrated Surrealism into her fashion photography. In the darkroom, she superimposed two different negatives: [music ends] one of the model, and one of the pool, to create this image.
MELANIE PULLEN: So she was breaking the rules. You had to be so forward thinking to make art during that time.
MALE NARRATOR: Maar became romantically involved with Pablo Picasso who discouraged her from photography, thinking that the medium was inferior. He said, “Inside every photographer is a painter trying to get out.” As Pullen explains, [ethereal ambient music intertwined with lapping water sound effects] Maar was painting when she created this photograph.
MELANIE PULLEN: You can see her dark room technique in the way the water kind of goes over, but then you don't see the lines of the water so much over her face, and you can really see where she painted in the darkroom on the image. It would've been a very magical moment to be in the room. I love this image.
[music and sound effects end]