Justine Joseph (1971-) - Playboy Pool Ladies - nattering between takes





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Description from the seller
Pool Ladies Nattering - Clapham Common Pool, London, 1987
Photographer: Michael Joseph
Original photograph: London, 1987
Cyanotype: Handmade in the Dordogne sunshine, France, 2026, by the photographer’s daughter, Justine Joseph
Process: Cyanotype made directly from Michael Joseph’s original negative on vintage photographic paper retrieved from his personal working library
Signature: Signed discreetly on the front by Justine Joseph
Mount: Silver mount by professional framer, size 30 x 24cm, ready to go into the frame of your choice
Series: Pool Ladies – Clapham Common, 1987
Edition: Unique – one-off handmade work
Created beneath the Dordogne sunshine in 2026 from Michael Joseph’s original 1987 negative, Pool Ladies Nattering is a deliciously eccentric meeting of photography, family archive and accidental alchemy.
The swimmers appear to have forgotten all about swimming. Gathered poolside in caps, goggles and costumes, they are caught instead in a conspiratorial moment of gossip, glances and glorious nattering. One stands hand on hip, another leans into the conversation, while the central swimmer lounges against the starting block.
It feels less like a swimming lesson than a poolside parliament - with considerably better costumes.
Joseph’s wonderful eye for groups is everywhere: caps, curves, costumes and conversation tumble across the composition, doubled and distorted by reflections in the water.
But what makes this particular print especially intriguing is the paper itself.
Rather than conventional cyanotype paper, Justine created it on vintage photographic paper retrieved from Michael Joseph’s own working library - material preserved amongst his archive for decades.
And something rather magical happened.
Traditional cyanotypes are essentially monochromatic, but Justine has discovered that working with certain pieces of Michael’s old photographic paper produces deliciously unpredictable results: inky blues drift into smoky greys, bruised violets, muted prussian blues and unexpected warmer tones.
The paper seems to participate in the picture.
Its age and original photographic emulsion introduce subtleties that cannot simply be repeated on demand, making this particular cyanotype genuinely one of a kind.
There is also a lovely circle to its creation: Michael exposed the original negative in London in 1987; almost forty years later, his daughter returned to it, using paper from her father’s photographic library and the sunshine of the Dordogne.
Presented in a bespoke metallic mount that complements its unusual tones, Pool Ladies Nattering is playful, peculiar and quietly provocative - part vintage archive, part contemporary experiment, part happy accident.
A unique photographic object - cool, colourful, conversational and just a little conspiratorial.
#MichaelJoseph #JustineJoseph #PoolLadies #Cyanotype #UniqueArtwork #VintagePhotoPaper #ClaphamCommon #London1987 #DordogneSunshine #AlternativePhotography #BritishPhotography #PhotographicAlchemy #OriginalNegative #PhotographicArchive #OneOfAKind #Bathingbeeauties #Nattering #Betweentakes #Immortalisedinstants
Seller's Story
Pool Ladies Nattering - Clapham Common Pool, London, 1987
Photographer: Michael Joseph
Original photograph: London, 1987
Cyanotype: Handmade in the Dordogne sunshine, France, 2026, by the photographer’s daughter, Justine Joseph
Process: Cyanotype made directly from Michael Joseph’s original negative on vintage photographic paper retrieved from his personal working library
Signature: Signed discreetly on the front by Justine Joseph
Mount: Silver mount by professional framer, size 30 x 24cm, ready to go into the frame of your choice
Series: Pool Ladies – Clapham Common, 1987
Edition: Unique – one-off handmade work
Created beneath the Dordogne sunshine in 2026 from Michael Joseph’s original 1987 negative, Pool Ladies Nattering is a deliciously eccentric meeting of photography, family archive and accidental alchemy.
The swimmers appear to have forgotten all about swimming. Gathered poolside in caps, goggles and costumes, they are caught instead in a conspiratorial moment of gossip, glances and glorious nattering. One stands hand on hip, another leans into the conversation, while the central swimmer lounges against the starting block.
It feels less like a swimming lesson than a poolside parliament - with considerably better costumes.
Joseph’s wonderful eye for groups is everywhere: caps, curves, costumes and conversation tumble across the composition, doubled and distorted by reflections in the water.
But what makes this particular print especially intriguing is the paper itself.
Rather than conventional cyanotype paper, Justine created it on vintage photographic paper retrieved from Michael Joseph’s own working library - material preserved amongst his archive for decades.
And something rather magical happened.
Traditional cyanotypes are essentially monochromatic, but Justine has discovered that working with certain pieces of Michael’s old photographic paper produces deliciously unpredictable results: inky blues drift into smoky greys, bruised violets, muted prussian blues and unexpected warmer tones.
The paper seems to participate in the picture.
Its age and original photographic emulsion introduce subtleties that cannot simply be repeated on demand, making this particular cyanotype genuinely one of a kind.
There is also a lovely circle to its creation: Michael exposed the original negative in London in 1987; almost forty years later, his daughter returned to it, using paper from her father’s photographic library and the sunshine of the Dordogne.
Presented in a bespoke metallic mount that complements its unusual tones, Pool Ladies Nattering is playful, peculiar and quietly provocative - part vintage archive, part contemporary experiment, part happy accident.
A unique photographic object - cool, colourful, conversational and just a little conspiratorial.
#MichaelJoseph #JustineJoseph #PoolLadies #Cyanotype #UniqueArtwork #VintagePhotoPaper #ClaphamCommon #London1987 #DordogneSunshine #AlternativePhotography #BritishPhotography #PhotographicAlchemy #OriginalNegative #PhotographicArchive #OneOfAKind #Bathingbeeauties #Nattering #Betweentakes #Immortalisedinstants

