Pool On Fire, 2015

Philip Jarmain grew up near London, Ontario, with part of his childhood spent in Switzerland and Ireland. There were also many family trips to Mexico. His mother is a textile artist and fathers an entrepreneur. A childhood love of storytelling led to early fascination with film, photography and cameras. dShort dramas shot with an 8 mm wind-up camera were a passion. Later, his training was in film (Vancouver Film School), and for some years he worked in lighting for feature films and episodic television, and after that as stills photographer for film.

While establishing himself as a full time artist in photography, Jarmain supports himself as a commercial photographer specializing in conceptual advertising, based in Vancouver, where he lives, and Toronto. In this area he is a recipient of multiple Lürzers Archive and Communication Arts awards as well as other international honors.

Pool on Fire is part of a collection of images inspired by stories from my youth—either lived or heard—that have left a lasting impression on my memory. These are not reenactments of actual event, but instead abstracted images based on memories that were etched in my mind. I think of them as myths, because for the story to be told in a single image and for it to have impact, and perhaps for us to remember it so vividly, we contort the memory and alter the image.  It is the concept and the essence of the story that are crucial.  And the image must be dynamic and beautiful.

Through archeology we know that myth comes from historical fact.  I don’t believe that King Minos had a son that was half bull and half human, but it did make for a great story, and we do know that Minos actually had a labyrinth in his basement.

In the late 60s in upscale Ann arbor, my mother’s cousin lit his neighbour’s pool on fire.  This was for me as a child, who was not there but heard about it as a family story, a legendary event.  For a few brief few moments brilliant orange flames crept across the water with a deep blue sky in the background.  The cousin became a glass blower and a sculptor using glass and metal as his medium.  Over the years, in the village where many of my family now live, at midnight on New Year’s Eve, he sometimes pours a coffee can of white gas on the road and sets it on fire.  We watch in awe as the flames travel across the asphalt.

The figure:

In Pool on Fire I wished to create an image that was focused on the beauty of the original event, which was the fire against the complementary blue sky.  For the figure on the edge of the fire, what was important to me was that this be a young person with absolute confidence.  Male or female, it made no difference.  I wanted a look of confidence and wonderment, and the model Mikayala, who is one of the most talented I have worked with, pulled this off.

The mid-century modern house and the shoes:

In my mind for some reason, it was a mid-century modern ranch-style house – simple and unassuming – that had the pool that was set on fire by my mother’s cousin.  Again, this is about the beauty of the flames and the water and the sky, but I include a few hints to give the image context and personality, such as the iconic Converse high top running shoes that my mother’s cousin wore, and the mid-century modern house.