In A Necessary Realism, José Pedro Cortes renews his way of looking at the matter and surface of the world. Through a set of photographs taken between 2005 and 2018, Cortes looks at the representation of the body in this complex and vulnerable time. In contrast with neoliberal realism, his images affirm the necessity of not allowing ourselves to be subordinated to a pragmatic vision of life, because reality is not mechanic, linear or numerical, but a challenge that demands daily attention and reflection. Throughout the volume we come across men and women who look at us, others who sensually caress each other in bed, or a group of friends languidly relaxing on the lawn on a summer's afternoon. There are no geographies or time scales, and as observers we are invited to make fast, slow, intense movements, in and out, attempting to find life, but also the skeleton, ruin and remains that time leaves in its wake.