Heat wave

Food serves as a great source of inspiration, and not only for the experiments in the kitchen. Those who follow the recent photography projects, must have noticed in how many different and interesting ways food can be incorporated in compositions to fulfill the concept. Llamas’ Valley cathes up with Spanish photographer Paloma RincónRodriguez, whose project “Heat wave” focuses on ironic interpretation of high temperatures.

You have described your recent project as a challenge to create a series of photographs dedicated for the theme of extreme weather conditions (extreme heat in this case). Could you comment more upon the process of the creation and how did you come up with ideas for each of your shots in this series?

I decided to work around the Heat Wave theme because the weather conditions in Madrid were really hot at that time. Instead of working in between two computers or lights which make the temperature rise even more I decided to work open air and use the strong sun as my main source of light having a swimming pool around.

The concepts started to grow as I began doing the prop search, it was a very free creative process. There are basically two kinds of images in the project; more classic still life compositions with a contemporary approach to light and color using a selection of unexpected objects, and more simple and straightforward images where a combination of props redefine their meaning. There were no sketches for this project as the preproduction part was happening at the same time I was shooting. Everything happened in a more chaotic and artful way. No pressure from any client made possible working like this, I really enjoyed the process being so free, as it brings the possibility to develop ideas and relate concepts in a very spontaneous way.

What are other things that you draw inspiration from? Is it difficult to come up with the concepts?

Coming up with the concepts happened in a natural way. It is hard is to find them out from the blue, they are a consequence of a previous process and not a result that you can get skipping the rest. It is necessary to begin to work and explore. Have a starting point and play around it. Of course doing a previous research is always necessary to have something to start with, but I find very important, when working with elements that exist in the physical world, to go around and open up your eyes to everything you see, and everything you can find. And that’s where inspiration comes from; from the shop around the corner, the last film or music video you saw, an exhibition in a gallery, a music concert or the food they served to you last time you went to have dinner out. Of course there´s a lot of information and inspiration you can find on the web, but the final twist will probably come from an unexpected place.