Lifeguard on Duty

Beach Scenes: Summer Reveries

Matt Albiani has a romance with the sea. In this very straightforward collection of full-page images of lifeguards on duty there is no secondary message. These images are simply of healthy, tanned, lithe young men in colorful swim suits sitting in their station towers, or leaning or lying or standing - always with an eye for incipient danger but seemingly completely in control of the situation. Turning the pages of this photographic essay lulls the viewer into that trance that happens when the surf constantly rolls onto the sand, or the water's edge approaches and recedes, or simply laps at pool's lip - memories of warm and hot summer breezes that tend to fade with autumn's advance. Images in both black and white and color give some variety in this at times repetitious monograph while Albiani concentrates on capturing these healthy young men in action and in repose. This book is more for the coffee table meant to offer the reader a visual retreat to the pleasures of summer.

Grady Harp