‘Backyard Oasis: The Swimming Pool in California Photography’
Californians can do without their swimming pools. The best photos from ‘Backyard Oasis.’ By Andrew Carter.
© Herb Ritts Foundation
Just in time for a heat wave, a book of photographs dedicated to the invention that helped millions cool off: the swimming pool. Backyard Oasis: The Swimming Pool in Southern California Photography, 1945-1982 is dedicated to decades of Californians and their pools. The book includes more than 200 photos of celebrities and regular Joes enjoying a dip in their natatoriums, and includes works by famed photographers like Bill Anderson, Herb Ritts, David Hockney, and Larry Sultan. The Daily Beast rounds up some of the book’s best photos.
Rock Hudson, 1954
© Palm Springs Art Museum
El Mirador, early 1950s
© Palm Springs Art Museum
Richard Dubois, 1953
© Bob Mizer Foundation
Richard Gere, 1982
© Herb Ritts Foundation
Robert and Cliff, Sherman Oaks, 1980
© Michael H. Epstein & Scott E. Schwimer
“He’s a typical Californian who doesn’t know how to relax,” 1971, photograph by Bill Owens.
© Bill Owens
Hockney Painted This Pool, 1980
© Bill Owens
The Hockney Swimmer, 1978
© Michael Childers
Nathan Swimming, Los Angeles, March 11, 1982
David Hockney; Photo: Richard Schmidt
Abandoned Pool, California Ruins, Perris Valley, 1974
© 1974 Loretta Ayeroff
Jay Adams, Northridge, California, circa 1973
© C.R. Stecyk
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