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Absence of Water

Gigi Cifali photographs the sense of emptiness that surrounds and fills abandoned public lidos and baths built in the late Victorian period as symbols of civic and architectural pride.

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  • 18 February 2014
  • London

Absence of Water is a photographic project which documents the state of decay of some baths, pools and lidos in the United Kingdom.

They were places in vogue, fundamental for the life till the thirties of XX Century. Gradually, living conditions and tastes have changed, resulting in a drop of attendances, leaving the public pools uneconomical to run. Symbols of civic and architectural pride in Victorian times, today only a handful of them remain as a representation of bygone era.

Top: Gigi Cifali, Hornsey Baths, London, from the series Absence of Water, 2009-2013 (detail). Above: Gigi Cifali, Chadderton Baths Oldham, from the series Absence of Water, 2009-2013

The project gives us the possibility to reflect on water: on its function and the importance it has for man and society development and growth. Water determines the wealth, it is indispensable to live and its lack inexorably leads to ruin, exactly as happened to these pools. These architectures, trough their charm, show us the time irreversible action, the ruin, the sense of emptiness that surrounds and fills them. Yet they are testimony and memory of a not too far age, when they were places full of voices and laughter and the beating heart of life.

Gigi Cifali, <i>Eltham Park Lido</i>, from the series <i>Absence of Water</i>, 2009-2013
Gigi Cifali, <i>Forest Hill Baths, London</i>, from the series <i>Absence of Water</i>, 2009-2013
Gigi Cifali, <i>Harpurhey Baths, Manchester</i>, from the series <i>Absence of Water</i>, 2009-2013
Gigi Cifali, <i>Hilsea Lido, Portsmouth</i>, from the series <i>Absence of Water</i>, 2009-2013
Gigi Cifali, <i>Hornsey Baths, London</i>, from the series <i>Absence of Water</i>, 2009-2013
Gigi Cifali, <i>Fields Lido, London</i>, from the series <i>Absence of Water</i>, 2009-2013
Gigi Cifali, <i>Moseley Baths, Birmingham</i>, from the series <i>Absence of Water</i>, 2009-2013
Gigi Cifali, <i>Soho Marshall Pool, London</i>, from the series <i>Absence of Water</i>, 2009-2013
Gigi Cifali, <i>Uxbridge Lido</i>, from the series <i>Absence of Water</i>, 2009-2013
Gigi Cifali, <i>Victoria Baths, Manchester</i>, from the series <i>Absence of Water</i>, 2009-2013
Gigi Cifali, <i>Tudor Grange Pool, Solihull</i>, from the series <i>Absence of Water</i>, 2009-2013


Gigi Cifali (Naples, 1975) lives and works in London, where he earned a Master's degree in journalism from the University of Westminster. Documentary photographer, has been awarded several times, his shots were selected, among others: the International Photography Awards, Fuji Prix Awards, AOP Association of Photographers Awards and François Schneider Foundation. His works have been published in Italy and abroad.

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