Michael Joseph (1941-) - Pool ladies during the break
06
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02
hours
32
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10
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Current bid
€ 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
Resting Between Takes – Pool Ladies, Clapham Common, London, 1987
Photographer: Michael Joseph
Medium: C-type photographic print (paper size 40cm wide by 30cm high)
Series: Pool Ladies
Signature: Signed and titled by Michael Joseph on the front
Bold, intimate and wonderfully theatrical, this photograph comes from Michael Joseph’s extraordinary Pool Ladies series, shot at Clapham Common in 1987.
Rather than a carefully ordered line-up, Joseph captures the swimmers resting between takes. Bodies overlap, bend, sit and stand at different depths within the frame, creating the kind of complex group composition for which his photography became known.
At the centre, one swimmer curls dramatically forward while another sits almost sculpturally beside her. Behind them, the eye discovers woman after woman - some watching, some waiting, some apparently lost in thought. The longer one looks, the more the photograph reveals.
The intense blue tonality gives the image an almost electric, contemporary quality, while the swimming caps, goggles and architecture retain the unmistakable atmosphere of a late-1980s London pool.
Part of Michael Joseph’s lesser-known archive beyond his celebrated advertising commissions, Resting Between Takes is particularly appealing for its spontaneity. It feels like a glimpse behind the performance - the moment when the carefully assembled scene briefly relaxes and the individual personalities emerge.
Michael has personally signed and titled the print on the front, making this a particularly attractive piece for a collector of his work.
A striking collision of bodies, blue, movement and stillness — and a wonderfully unconventional portrait of 1980s London.
#MichaelJoseph #PoolLadies #ClaphamCommon #BritishPhotography #LondonPhotography #1980sPhotography #FineArtPhotography #SignedPhotography #CollectiblePhotography #PhotographyCollector #SwimmingPhotography #VintagePhotography #PhotographicArt #CTypePrint #MichaelJosephArchive
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 TranslateResting Between Takes – Pool Ladies, Clapham Common, London, 1987
Photographer: Michael Joseph
Medium: C-type photographic print (paper size 40cm wide by 30cm high)
Series: Pool Ladies
Signature: Signed and titled by Michael Joseph on the front
Bold, intimate and wonderfully theatrical, this photograph comes from Michael Joseph’s extraordinary Pool Ladies series, shot at Clapham Common in 1987.
Rather than a carefully ordered line-up, Joseph captures the swimmers resting between takes. Bodies overlap, bend, sit and stand at different depths within the frame, creating the kind of complex group composition for which his photography became known.
At the centre, one swimmer curls dramatically forward while another sits almost sculpturally beside her. Behind them, the eye discovers woman after woman - some watching, some waiting, some apparently lost in thought. The longer one looks, the more the photograph reveals.
The intense blue tonality gives the image an almost electric, contemporary quality, while the swimming caps, goggles and architecture retain the unmistakable atmosphere of a late-1980s London pool.
Part of Michael Joseph’s lesser-known archive beyond his celebrated advertising commissions, Resting Between Takes is particularly appealing for its spontaneity. It feels like a glimpse behind the performance - the moment when the carefully assembled scene briefly relaxes and the individual personalities emerge.
Michael has personally signed and titled the print on the front, making this a particularly attractive piece for a collector of his work.
A striking collision of bodies, blue, movement and stillness — and a wonderfully unconventional portrait of 1980s London.
#MichaelJoseph #PoolLadies #ClaphamCommon #BritishPhotography #LondonPhotography #1980sPhotography #FineArtPhotography #SignedPhotography #CollectiblePhotography #PhotographyCollector #SwimmingPhotography #VintagePhotography #PhotographicArt #CTypePrint #MichaelJosephArchive
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 during the break
Condition
Original State
Technique
C-Print
Height
40 cm
Edition
Print from scan of original negative
Width
30 cm
Signature
Hand signed
Genre
Nude
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