Defaulting to the square. A cold day in Austin with non-stop rain. What to do? How about photography at Barton Springs Pool?

 

I woke up at six a.m. with a sore neck. I crawled quietly out of bed, got dressed and headed to the kitchen to make coffee and toast, and to look at the news. Outside the window the rain was tumbling down, the wind gusting and the skies still dark. I got bored with the news. I made a second cup of coffee, walked into the library and pulled a random photo book off the shelves. It was "Twenty-Five Years. Photography" a retrospective of Keith Carter's work. I like Carter's photos pretty well but I love the writing in the book. An introduction by A.D. Coleman which situates fine art photography with insightful precision. But my absolute favorite part of the book is the collection of quotes and snippets from Carter as told to Bill Witliff back in 1996. The quotes are really great. Worth the price of the book. 

Keith Carter is a believer in the idea that you don't need to travel to far off places to find art and magic. Actually belonging to a place can be just as important as travel. I read Carter's interview responses and then grabbed an old SL body and that zany TTartisan 50mm f0.95, set the camera up to make square files and to write them to the cards as black and white Jpegs. Then I put on an old rain jacket over my worn, green sweatshirt and headed out to make some photos for fun. Just for fun.

It was still raining, but not too hard, when I pulled into the parking lot in front of Barton Springs Pool. The pool is spring fed, 1/8th of a mile long and open unless it's going to be below freezing for an extended period of time. I flashed my senior citizen swim card at the gate and spent some time watching water drip off the brim of my hat. And I made photographs for fun. Mostly of the pool and some of the old railings that have been at the pool for a long, long time. 

Even though rain drops peppered the pool and the wind made the day feel ten degrees cooler than the actual 42° shown on my phone there were three hardy swimmers doing long laps in the pool and two lifeguards all bundled up and sitting under big umbrellas in their lifeguard chairs a third of the way to either end.

coming down from the guard house for a shift change. 

These simple railings have been at the pool as long as I can remember.

My first swim at Barton Springs Pool was in the Summer of 1975.

That's a lot of water over the spillway. 

That lump on the wall is someone's bundle of warm, dry clothes wrapped up in 

plastic to keep dry. It's a good idea to get dry quick and bundle back up.

The water is warm enough to be swimmable. It's about 70°. It doesn't vary 

 much, season to season. But it always seems colder on the gray 

winter days....

The alternate shot of the "bundle" with the swimmer out of focus in the background...

A good warning to obey since the pool depth is two feet or so there. 

And the bottom is rocky... 

No takers on the diving board today. But it's there if you need it...

There is a spillway at the east end of the pool. The pool water continuously empties out 

into a waterway that leads to Lady Bird Lake. The part of the Colorado River that flows through 

the center of Austin. The divide between downtown and the once very hip South Austin.

Now painfully gentrified by techies from out of state...

Another swimmer's minimalist "bundle" is nothing but a pair of sandals to keep

their feet from freezing as they make their way up the long stairs to the open-to-the-sky changing

rooms. Nice on days when it's too chilly to walk around barefoot. 

I counted two pairs of white egrets. I wasn't fast enough to focus on them in flight. But then I remembered that I don't really do....BIF.

near the East end of the pool it gets shallow in places. At the middle and at the West end

it gets too deep to stand up in. Some people swim here every single day of the year. 

They get there as early as 5:00 a.m. when there are no guards and only a sign

which reads, "Swim at your own risk." No sissies before first light...

This guard was layered in clothes. And professional. And attentive of the swimmers. 

It's that dedication to make things work even if there is only one swimmer in the 

pool that makes Austin a different city than most. There isn't a quota or a 

limitation based on how much use the pool gets. It's just there for anyone 

who wants to or needs to swim. My swim bag was in the car. I wouldn't have 

felt right about photographing and then leaving. I had to get a quick, chilly mile in 

first. Made my sore neck for better...for a little while. 

When I came home from a swim a couple of days ago I tossed my "Marvel Comics/Super-hero" towel over the gate to the side yard to let it dry in the sun. Too bad I forgot to bring it in last night, before the storm hit. It's going to take a while to dry out with the first edge of the cold weather having arrived. 

All photos done with a Leica SL. Jpegs. Black and White. 

TTArtisan 50mm f0.95 lens. Mostly shot at f1.1.

Look at them bigger. The detail and also the focus fall off is more fun that way.