Photographs of a German outdoor pool in winter promise of a summer like no other

There has probably never been a time in recent history that we’ve looked forward to summer as much as we do now. While we wait for normality to resume, photographer Michael Nguyen‘s latest series acts as a perfect metaphor to how many of us are feeling this winter.

His series, Gauting Outdoor Pool, offers a quiet reflection on the events of 2020 as well as beautiful images of a German open-air swimming pool, and all of its surroundings. Like the rest of us, this facility is on hold until the warmer months. Normally full of life and laughter, the serene pool has paused for breath: the reflections on its surface, bare nearby trees and floating dead leaves – they all give us a sense that, like us, the pool expects better days to come.

A 50-metre sports pool that was officially launched on 25 June 1966 and improved considerably for the 1972 Munich Olympics, Gauting has seen many a famous swimmer grace its waters, including Mark Spitz (the ‘Shark’), the former US swimmer who scooped seven gold medals that summer.

Of photographing the pool during winter, Michael said: “First, it made me feel a little sad, a melancholic feeling like when you look at a beautiful but abandoned place. But at the same time, you feel calm, clear. Then comes this kind of epiphany, the moment you stop and reflect. Like the peaceful water surface. You see the world and yourself in the truest light.”

Discover more of Michael Nguyen’s work at nguyensminiaturen.de.