The Garden Revealed. José Quintanilla (PHotoESPAÑA 2026)

From 6 May to 28 June, the CentroCentro cultural space will be hosting an exhibition by José Quintanilla which explores the limits of photography beyond its documentary essence. This exhibition is part of the Official Section of the PHotoESPAÑA 2026 photography festival and is also part of the EPICENTRE initiative, a programme of “invited artists” designed as a dynamic space to raise visibility and offer opportunities.

Nearly two centuries after the advent of photography, it is starting to show signs of having run its course. The relentless daily exposure to thousands of images, photography’s loss of credibility due to its ease of manipulation and the widespread proliferation of photographic devices, along with the use of social media, provide us with the keys to understanding this decline.

Based on this reflection, Jose Quintanilla (Yecla, Murcia, 1963) has created this project to explore the limits of photography beyond its documentary essence, approaching pictorial language through the principles of Impressionism and analysing new forms of expression that can revamp contemporary photographic images.

People are so exposed to being bombarded with images in their daily lives that looking at a photograph whose colours have been altered, detached from the reference yet still governed by familiar forms, makes it more like a painting than reality. Colour does not depend on objects but on light and, above all, on our own perception.

The work of the visual artist, Jose Quintanilla, who now lives and works in Madrid, focuses on landscape and memory, as well as the deterioration of the environment caused by humans and the spiritual quest through nature. Some of his lines of research on based on the credibility of what is photographed, the passage of time and lifespan.

Image Credit:

• The Garden Revealed (detail), 2026 © Jose Quintanilla, VEGAP. 2026