Master of cinematic surrealism Pedro Almadóvar unveils bold new photographic works

Turns out he’s also a pretty good photographer, as this new series of still life pieces demonstrates. Waiting For The Light is the first show in New York of Almodóvar’s photographic work.

Taking a similar approach to his films, the pieces colourful, reference ideas around domesticity, and are peppered with quotes and historical allusions, referencing realist painters in Madrid including Antonio López García and Isabel Quintanilla.

According to the Marlborough Gallery, which is showing the work, the pieces also focus on the everyday "in a way that makes the objects visually transcendent."

The images were all shot in Almodóvar’s home, using sunlight streaming in through his windows. As such, they could only be created for a few minutes each day, when the right lighting conditions occurred.

“This past winter I started to get bored with the wooden surface of the side table and the colour of the wall,” Almodóvar has said. “I had painted the wall of and used several wooden planks painted different colours as a base, on top of the table. Five colours in total.

“The flowers from previous sessions were drying up, but I was still using them. I realised that as they lost freshness they were more versatile and they photographed better. Without realising it, I was photographing the passage of time, in the light and in the flowers.”

Pedro Almodóvar: Waiting for the Light runs until 29 June at Marlborough Gallery, 40 West 57th Street, New York.