BMW residency
tenth winner 2020

The jury of the BMW Residence has unanimously chosen Almudena Romero’s project, “The Pigment Change”, which is being developed at GOBELINS, the school of image.
Almudena Romero has an original experimental and scientific approach with a committed reflection on the relationship between ecology and production. Her research on pigment change is not only technical but also visually powerful. Her work fully echoes the BMW Group’s vision of innovation and production that must always be sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Using organic matter as a photographic substrate, The pigment change explores sustainable forms and materials in photography as part of a broader reflection on sustainability. Faced with the inevitable disappearance of the silver process, she seeks a virtuous practice using living materials. Her aim is to experiment an “ecological” technique using natural and living processes to the detriment of chemistry. Its main medium is natural, plants and its material light, specific to plants and photosynthesis.
This project is divided into 4 series: Faire une photo, Family album, Offspring and The act of producing.

The BMW Residence gives carte blanche to one laureate each year and provides the human, financial, artistic and logistical means for the artist to carry out an experimental project. The BMW Group France’s endowment for the BMW Residence includes a grant of €8,000 for the laureate, the financing of the production of research and works during the residency, the production of the solo exhibitions shown at the Rencontres d’Arles and Paris Photo, the publication of a book in the BMW Art & Culture collection as well as the artistic direction provided by François Cheval who accompanies the laureate in his research and provides the critical apparatus and curatorial support for the exhibitions.

DISCOVER THE WORK OF THE ARTIST