Cinema is also invoked in this body of work by the use of off-kilter compositions, unusual angles and odd cropping, the combination of which exhibits a set of strong formal lines — diagonals, horizontals and verticals — all intersecting and superimposing themselves upon each other. The fact that Laval uses a Rolleiflex means that by looking through the lens from above, she can tilt the camera to get peculiar perspectives which add to the humorous and quirky nature of the images. But it must be said that colour, however, is the real linchpin of her work. Not only does her particular palette serve to structure many of the compositions but it also works as an expressive tool and is as much a subject of her photographs as the swimmers themselves. In some cases, she opts for the bleached-out tones, a function of overexposing the film. Under these conditions layers of colour fade away; the constellations of bodies teeter on the threshold of visibility. This overexposure is also responsible for another striking feature: the absence of a sense of time. Here in The Pool series the summer appears endless, and could just as easily belong to bygone years. The dappled sunlight pierces through the heat haze resembling an endless, recurring dream interrupted only by the flotsam and jetsam of modern bathing wear. On other occasions, the colours are more saturated and the contrast is sharp, intensified by a dramatic chiaroscuro that springs from light reflected off the water and the darkness that lurks below its surface.

Adopting a cross-process technique and adapting it to suit her own aesthetic agenda has become instrumental to her signature style. She developed this procedure by shooting with slide film and then deliberately processing it in a chemical normally used for negative films. Further manipulation in the darkroom yields such unnatural colours, ushering in the images’ otherworldly feel. Given her rapidly growing reputation, it comes as no surprise to learn that this series was selected, alongside the work of Martin Parr and Massimo Vitali, for the 2003 exhibition Contemporary Colour Photography at the Bonni Benrubi Gallery in New York. Yet, at the same time, her work stands alone and resists comparison to anything else in photography. The curators though were evidently smitten by the masterful way she photographed the clear-cut azure blue of the sea at a lido in Cascais, Portugal or the serene whiteness of Barcelona’s city pool.