PAULA CODOÑER: from flower to flower in an endless analogue spring

29 January 2024 - Photography

From the streets of Valencia to New York’s One World Trade Center, Paula Codoñer (1991) has managed to create works of art that surprise with their beauty through one of the most referenced elements in the history of art: flowers.

Although she’s not sure which are her favourites, Paula adds a new lens to flower photography: “The diversity in shapes, colours and textures gives rise to infinite possibilities and visual combinations,” she says. Although, as she says, flowers also have their particularities: “You have to take into account the season of the year and adapt to their availability. Most of them are very delicate and don’t do well with extreme heat or being out of the water for a long time. The moment after the photos is the best part, because they serve to decorate my house.”

Her careful work elevates the subject enormously: how far a stem can be seen, the direction of a flower’s head, or the multitude of colored backgrounds on which she places bouquets. At the same time, looking at her work, one discovers a certain impulse to take each image as the portrait of a person, a collection of the faces of her own society in which we feel reflected

Each of her photographs is a testament to the analogue approach she takes. By choosing not to use digital media in the creation of her works, the artist achieves a texture and colors that can only be obtained with film, as well as enjoying a more relaxed and conscious workflow, feeling more present through analogue.

In relation to why a creator like her opted for flowers, to the point of fixation, some clues can be found in her own city: “Valencia is sunny most of the year, which has been important for me when it comes to understanding light and selecting bright and cheerful colours”. An ecosystem cultivated through direct observation in parks and gardens such as the Parc Central, the Parc de Cabecera, the Parc de Montforte or the les Hespérides one.