Leaves and plants become image media
For her project ‘The Pigment Change’, Almudena Romero (*1986, Madrid/SP) exposes plants to precisely defined amounts of light and uses the natural pigment changes to create images on leaves.
Most plants have a variety of pigments that reflect light and absorb energy from a wide range of different wavelengths. Photoperiodicity, photobleaching, photosynthesis and selective growth are the biological processes Romero uses to print photos on leaves. Plants produce chlorophyll (green), carotenoids (yellow) and anthocyanins (red, purple, blue) to survive. The artist for example projects negatives from her family archive directly onto beds of cress. She references the photographic techniques of the 19th century and the first studies that were conducted on the light sensitivity of plants and the effects of light on plant pigments.
All Photos:
| Almudena Romero | The Pigment Change | tenth winner of the BMW Residency at Paris Photo at the Grand Palais Ephémère, from November 11 to 14, 2021 | BMW Residency Award Solo Show at Cloître Saint-Trophime, Les Rencontres d’Arles 2021 |