Ross Mantle

Open Swim, Camp Hill, Pittsburgh 2007

Ross Mantle (b.1985, USA) is a freelance photographer based in Pittsburgh, Pa. He holds a degree in Visual Communication from Ohio University and has worked for newspapers and on projects throughout the United States and abroad. His work has been featured in publications worldwide, including The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times among others. Ross’ personal work often focuses on the quirks of American life and the unique relationship between person and place. Ross enjoys riding bikes, eating cheap burritos and making iced tea. He’d be happy to play you in air hockey or take an assignment anywhere you may want to send him.

About the Photograph:

“I was interning for a newspaper in central Pennsylvania during the summer a couple years ago and got an assignment at this pool. Adult swim had just ended and the pool became chaotic again with kids. I saw this woman walking back across the platform. She had such a wonderful bathing suit on, one I thought you would only find in Florida, and it matched the color of the paint perfectly. So I made a couple frames, then the two girls popped in from the sides and this frame came together. There’s something so timeless and nostalgic about public swimming pools. I feel like the scene in this photo is one of a very typical suburban American summer. The paper never ran it though, I think they said it would be unflattering.”