Model in a Swimsuit
DORA MAAR
DORA MAAR, 1936
Light and shade ripple along the bather. Clad in a two-piece swimsuit, she is quintessentially daring for 1936. Her arms raised in statuesque positioning, the figure appears to float unencumbered - the longer you look, the more it may seem like this mystery woman is drifting through a dream. But neither woman nor pool were ever actually acquainted - instead, this is one of the first true Surrealist photographs. Influenced by her romantic relationship with Pablo Picasso, Maar integrated Surrealism into her fashion photography - as Picasso said, “Inside every photographer is a painter trying to get out.” Here, Maar was ‘painting’ in the darkroom, superimposing two different negatives of model and pool to create the final surreal image. The work is an anomaly in Surrealism; its trick so well executed that it might be lost to a casual glance.