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Miguel Naranjo
The operating room before the day's first surgery. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

Series · 2023–2026 · Hospitales CMQ

Inside the operating room

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Series
Inside the operating room
Years
2023–2026
Place
Puerto Vallarta · Riviera Nayarit
Institution
Hospitales CMQ
Plates
30
Format
Black and white

A record of what happens in an operating room once the camera stops getting in the way.

The series began as an assignment and turned into long-term work. Photographing surgery means learning another set of rules: where you can stand, what you never touch, when it is better not to shoot. The light is not controlled, it is read. The procedure sets the pace, not the photographer.

What he looks for is not the raw moment but the craft: concentration held for hours, the choreography between surgeon, scrub nurse and anesthesiologist, the precise objects passing from hand to hand, the quiet before the first cut and the corridor afterward.

The work is in black and white to take the distraction out of the frame and leave the shape, the gesture and the light. The sequence follows the order of a working day: the empty room, the imaging, the preparation, the work, the detail, the transfer.

The series includes images of surgical procedures. All of them were made inside the operating rooms of Hospitales CMQ, with the authorization of the hospital and of the physicians who appear in them, and with care for the identity and privacy of every patient.

Reviewing imaging before scrubbing in. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Films on screen during the procedure. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Fluoroscopy: the team follows the image in real time. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Draped equipment, ready for the sterile field. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Preparing the surgical field. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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The full room, minutes before the first cut. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Surgery under the light. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Surgical loupes and concentration. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Microscope and overhead light. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Surgery against the light. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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The light is not controlled. It is read.

Electrocautery: the smoke marks the rhythm of the work. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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The team around the table. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Two teams working at once. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Hands and eyes on the same point. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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The incision. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Retractors and the open field. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Open-heart surgery. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Coronary revascularization. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Neurosurgery under the operating microscope. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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The microscope moves into the field. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Neurosurgery: the exposed field under the microscope. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Fine work on the field. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Precision instruments passing from hand to hand. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Suturing, the detail that closes the work. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Laparoscopic surgery. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Endoscopy. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Instruments in position. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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A pause inside the procedure. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Transfer: the corridor between the operating room and intensive care. Inside the operating room, Hospitales CMQ, photograph by Miguel Naranjo

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Photographs for Hospital CMQ · Miguel Naranjo, 2023–2026

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