Michael Joseph (1941-) - Pool ladies: Dive Either Way
06
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€ 2
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Selected by Kai Brückner
Over 35 years' experience; former gallery owner and Museum Folkwang curator.
Estimate € 650 - € 800
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Description from the seller
Dive Either Way - Pool Ladies, Clapham Common, London, 1987
Photographer: Michael Joseph
Original photograph: London, 1987
Cyanotype: Handmade in Dordogne, France, 2026, by the photographer’s daughter, Justine Joseph
Process: Cyanotype created from Michael Joseph’s original negative
Signature: Signed prominently on the front by Michael Joseph
A wonderfully surreal reinvention of Michael Joseph’s celebrated Pool Ladies series.
In Dive Either Way, a single diving sequence is mirrored and multiplied into an almost architectural composition: two opposing ranks of swimmers lean towards one another, their repeated bodies creating a strange, theatrical corridor above the water. At its centre, the diver appears suspended between two possible directions - hence Michael Joseph’s playful handwritten title, “Dive Either Way.”
The deep Prussian and electric blues of the cyanotype intensify the image’s dreamlike quality. What began as a photograph made at Clapham Common in London in 1987 has been reinterpreted nearly forty years later in the Dordogne sunshine by the photographer’s daughter, Justine Joseph, using today's technology.
What makes this particular work especially desirable is the dialogue between the two generations: the original image is Michael Joseph’s; the c-type was designed by his daughter; and Michael himself has signed and titled the finished work on the front.
The visible edges, tonal variations and individual characteristics of the piece are integral to the artwork. This is not a mechanically reproduced photographic print, but an individually made artwork with its own character.
Striking, slightly eccentric and unmistakably British, Dive Either Way transforms a swimming-pool photograph into something approaching a piece of optical theatre.
A particularly compelling opportunity to acquire a contemporary handmade interpretation of Michael Joseph’s archive, bearing the photographer’s own signature and handwritten title.
#MichaelJoseph #JustineJoseph #PoolLadies #DiveEitherWay #Cyanotype #CyanotypeArt #BritishPhotography #VintagePhotography #PhotographyCollector #PhotographicArt #ClaphamCommon #LondonPhotography #AlternativePhotography #SignedPhotography #CollectiblePhotography
Seller's Story
My father, Michael Joseph, was a London-based advertising photographer, active from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, and best known for his photographs for the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet gatefold.
My continuing mission is to share what we affectionately call “the other photographs”: the lesser-known treasures from his extraordinary archive — original darkroom prints, test prints, alternative frames from major shoots, his celebrated group compositions, and more intimate, personal images.
For this special Solo Seller Auction, I am particularly excited to include a selection from Michael’s 1964 Vietnam archive — photographs that have never previously been seen or offered for sale. These remarkable images reveal a very different side of his work, made when he was just 23 years old.
Alongside Michael’s authentic vintage darkroom prints, I am also presenting a new generation of works: striking prints on aluminium and my own handmade cyanotypes, created from his original negatives and transparencies in the Dordogne sunshine. Some are made on vintage photographic paper retrieved from Michael’s own working library, bringing the archive quite literally into a new generation.
Together, the collection brings photographic history and contemporary experimentation side by side — from unique vintage prints made by Michael himself to bold new interpretations of his remarkable archive.
I hope you enjoy discovering these photographs as much as I enjoy bringing them to light — sometimes preserved exactly as Michael made them, sometimes given an entirely new life.
All works are carefully protected and packed with the attention appropriate to collectible photographic artworks.
For US buyers: customs duties and applicable import charges are paid at source and included in the shipping cost. No additional charges should normally be payable on delivery, subject to any change in regulations.
Translated by Google TranslateDive Either Way - Pool Ladies, Clapham Common, London, 1987
Photographer: Michael Joseph
Original photograph: London, 1987
Cyanotype: Handmade in Dordogne, France, 2026, by the photographer’s daughter, Justine Joseph
Process: Cyanotype created from Michael Joseph’s original negative
Signature: Signed prominently on the front by Michael Joseph
A wonderfully surreal reinvention of Michael Joseph’s celebrated Pool Ladies series.
In Dive Either Way, a single diving sequence is mirrored and multiplied into an almost architectural composition: two opposing ranks of swimmers lean towards one another, their repeated bodies creating a strange, theatrical corridor above the water. At its centre, the diver appears suspended between two possible directions - hence Michael Joseph’s playful handwritten title, “Dive Either Way.”
The deep Prussian and electric blues of the cyanotype intensify the image’s dreamlike quality. What began as a photograph made at Clapham Common in London in 1987 has been reinterpreted nearly forty years later in the Dordogne sunshine by the photographer’s daughter, Justine Joseph, using today's technology.
What makes this particular work especially desirable is the dialogue between the two generations: the original image is Michael Joseph’s; the c-type was designed by his daughter; and Michael himself has signed and titled the finished work on the front.
The visible edges, tonal variations and individual characteristics of the piece are integral to the artwork. This is not a mechanically reproduced photographic print, but an individually made artwork with its own character.
Striking, slightly eccentric and unmistakably British, Dive Either Way transforms a swimming-pool photograph into something approaching a piece of optical theatre.
A particularly compelling opportunity to acquire a contemporary handmade interpretation of Michael Joseph’s archive, bearing the photographer’s own signature and handwritten title.
#MichaelJoseph #JustineJoseph #PoolLadies #DiveEitherWay #Cyanotype #CyanotypeArt #BritishPhotography #VintagePhotography #PhotographyCollector #PhotographicArt #ClaphamCommon #LondonPhotography #AlternativePhotography #SignedPhotography #CollectiblePhotography
Seller's Story
My father, Michael Joseph, was a London-based advertising photographer, active from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, and best known for his photographs for the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet gatefold.
My continuing mission is to share what we affectionately call “the other photographs”: the lesser-known treasures from his extraordinary archive — original darkroom prints, test prints, alternative frames from major shoots, his celebrated group compositions, and more intimate, personal images.
For this special Solo Seller Auction, I am particularly excited to include a selection from Michael’s 1964 Vietnam archive — photographs that have never previously been seen or offered for sale. These remarkable images reveal a very different side of his work, made when he was just 23 years old.
Alongside Michael’s authentic vintage darkroom prints, I am also presenting a new generation of works: striking prints on aluminium and my own handmade cyanotypes, created from his original negatives and transparencies in the Dordogne sunshine. Some are made on vintage photographic paper retrieved from Michael’s own working library, bringing the archive quite literally into a new generation.
Together, the collection brings photographic history and contemporary experimentation side by side — from unique vintage prints made by Michael himself to bold new interpretations of his remarkable archive.
I hope you enjoy discovering these photographs as much as I enjoy bringing them to light — sometimes preserved exactly as Michael made them, sometimes given an entirely new life.
All works are carefully protected and packed with the attention appropriate to collectible photographic artworks.
For US buyers: customs duties and applicable import charges are paid at source and included in the shipping cost. No additional charges should normally be payable on delivery, subject to any change in regulations.
Translated by Google TranslateDetails
Date of print
2025
Artist
Michael Joseph (1941-)
Sold by
Owner or reseller
Title of artwork
Pool ladies: Dive Either Way
Condition
Original State
Technique
C-Print
Height
40 cm
Edition
Print from scan of two overlaid original negatives
Width
30 cm
Signature
Hand signed
Genre
Nude
Sold by
