Each year as part of Graduate Photography Online we ask a number of professionals from the world of photography to review all the work submitted and choose their favourites. We chat to Raquel Villar-Pérez, Academic, Curator and Writer and Selector for the BA phase of Graduate Photography Online 2025.
Raquel Villar-Pérez
Academic, Curator & Writer
Tell us about your day-to-day routine as an independent researcher and art curator? What projects are you working on at present?
I am quite new to this realm of ‘independent researcher and art curator’. I have done independent curatorial projects and writing in the past, but I was also in a full-time job. It feels good being able to focus on the projects and artists that really interest me. In my experience, working independently allows you to develop your ideas and pitching them to initiatives and spaces you want to work with. Then, fundraising. It adds up to a lot of unpaid labour. I feel lucky that, at this point in my life, I have a generous and caring support network that enables me to take this time off full-time employment.
These days, I am investigating the image works of women artists who, like me, are migrants to the UK. I am particularly interested in women who come from Spanish-speaking countries, including the Philippines. That is all the countries that once were colonies of Spain. I am interested in the visual and sensorial strategies they use, in line with Lucy Soutter’s expanded photography, to discuss migration in their work. This has crystallised into a PhD research proposal that I am hoping to start next year at the University of Edinburgh.
I am also looking into the photobook and publishing industry and the scarce presence of women photographers. Working with peers, we are imagining how to broaden women’s participation in the industry, from a decolonial and feminist perspective. Lastly, but not least, I am juggling this with being a mum to my two-year old son, with whom I spend a lot of time. Potty-training, teaching the alphabet, the numbers and the days of the week, and building ‘fast cars’, is possibly the project that takes up most of my time.
Can you talk about the personal side of the journey that brought you to the particular cluster of research/curatorial interests that you now focus on?
Since my degree years I have been interested in the work of underrepresented artists. I came to the UK to pursue studies on African Arts, and, for the first few years, I worked within the African and Black Diaspora Arts context. However, I always struggled with the underlying power relation that was established between me – the white European – and the Africans or Diaspora artists – the Other. Despite the transparency and all my best intentions towards the artists I worked with, it made me feel quite uncomfortable and often I would freeze and stop doing projects. Eventually, I came to terms with the fact that no one chooses where they are born. Ultimately, I occupy a position in this world, and whatever it is, however it changes, I want to use it to elevate others, or at least try to do so.
Being away from your family and friends, makes you search for networks of solidarity and gravitate towards people who are in a similar situation, although with big differences. I started sharing and spending time with other Spanish-speakers, mostly Latin Americans. I am completely aware that the process of racialisation of my persona, although aggravated after Brexit, is not as bad as it is the same process of racialisation that Latin Americans endure. By living in London and other parts of the country, I have started to understand the dynamics of the UK’s photography ecosystem. I realised that the work of Latin American image-makers is scarcely invited to crucial conversations around photography. I want for my work to contribute to rebalancing this situation.
Tell us about what your previous role as Curator at Impressions involved? What were some of the highlights of your time with the gallery?
My job at Impressions involved working with artists in the design of exhibitions, commissioning and mentoring artists, producing interpretation materials, liaising with subcontractors for exhibition-making, coordinating events, representing the gallery, and more. For me, I really enjoyed planning the exhibitions, when you are looking at the model and thinking how best to transmit the story the artist wants to tell in the space you have, embracing its challenges. Every exhibition is different and it is amazing to see how the space transforms from one to another.
In 2021 you were the winner of the Peckham 24 open call leading to your curation of 'Poetics of Resistance from the Archive in Two Acts'. Can you tell us a bit about the genesis and development of this particular project?
I had followed Javier Hirchsfeld’s practice for a few years, and I found really compelling how it was becoming visually more layered and conceptually much more complex. He investigated notions of self-representation on dating apps like Grinder. Around the time that the open call was launched, I had done a portfolio review with Pablo Lerma. His work unearthed candid images of gay men extracted from LGBTQ+ magazines from the 1980s and 1990s. I did share the call on my social networks, and it was Pablo actually, who suggested we do something together. I felt their work had many things in common, working with archival materials, themes of LGBTQ+ visibility, stereotypes, and the existence of safe spaces of solidarity created by gay communities, for gay communities. I called a meeting between the three of us. They introduced their work to each other, and from then, I started working on putting together a proposal. Which works to show and how, was decided through conversations held between myself and each of the artists at a time. It was very easy to work with them both, as a group, and also individually with each of them. With this came loads of research, loads of writing, loads of exhibition layout design, and so on. Everything was signed off by Pablo and Javier before being submitted to Peckham 24. And then we won! The works were amazing, and the exhibition looked really good. I think the Peckham 24 team and the audience really enjoyed the show.
How much of a chance do you get to gauge public reaction/response to the curatorial projects you've worked on? Are there specific mechanisms of feedback/engagement that you favour and how much does that feed into your approach to programming subsequent events?
When working for organisations funded by the Arts Council, or, I would imagine, funded by any public bodies, there is a target of surveys we need to do with visitors and attendees to events. That enables us to understand how people engage with our activities, and if they don't, what should we be doing to attract more people. Ultimately, we have the responsibility of bringing photography and art to broader audiences, and public bodies trust us to do so. Personally, I enjoy talking to visitors and attendees. At Impressions, I would spend some time in the gallery talking to visitors to gauge their opinion. Sometimes, people prefer giving feedback to a real person than filling out a form. At Impressions, there is also a comments book where people can share their thoughts.
How did you make your way into the career you're now in? At what point did photography start to feature significantly in that path? What advice would you have for someone interested in working in your field?
My undergraduate course was in Fine Arts, then I did a master’s degree in art Practice. Photography was my main artistic discipline. Towards the end of my studies, I realised I was more interested in helping my classmates to show their work than doing my own. Then the concept of the works started being more interesting to me than their technique, although I always gravitated towards artworks that used images somehow. It was with my work at Photoworks that I started thinking about photography and medium specifically, more intellectually if you wish. In a way, it all made sense and started to click. My interest in underrepresented voices has to do with notions of democratising the access to art, and photography is, possibly, the most democratic art form. Work hard and believe in yourself. Be curious, and open to forever-learning. Enjoy the turns and twists. Be kind and generous.
How do you decide on what makes an interesting photograph or photographic project?
For me, what makes an interesting photographic project is that it presents a good balance between concept and visual language. Conceptually, I like projects that are well researched, that engage with the contemporary times, and whose position make me think in a different way. Visually, I am interested in how photographers stretch the medium in all directions.
As regards the photographer's statement, what are the most important things for you to know about the work? When it comes to showing their work outside of University, have you any tips on how graduates should prepare their work and the supporting material that accompanies it?
Personally, I think the key is to keep the statement short and sweet, leaving the reader wanting to know more about the project. It needs to include what the work is about; what the artist is trying to explore and why. To me, everything else can come after. When it comes to showing the work outside University, I think it is important to consider where, to whom, and for what reason are the graduates showing the work. This will determine what do they show and what is the best format to do so.
In your view, aside from specifically technical skills, what are the kind of qualities that completing a degree course in photography should endow an individual with?
I think anything that can help them face the reality of the job market graciously. In art degrees, we are taught to be artists, which is a lot of fun, but then reality hits you. A lot of my classmates are doing jobs outside the creative industries because they did not know how to redirect their creativity and interests, and that saddens me.
What are the particular challenges you see facing graduates from photography degree courses as they make their way into the world at this particular point in time?
Overall, I would say, possibly, affordable honest feedback on their work from people in the industry. Very few portfolio reviews organised by photo organisations are free of charge or cheap to attend. Also, access to labs and workshops where they can continue experimenting and developing work. The costs of submitting their work to open calls. Finding places where to exhibit their work. But thankfully, I feel here in the UK, compared to Spain at least, there are numerous initiatives that alleviate these challenges.
Images: (Top) Pablo Lerma Installation - Leah Band and Peckham 24 / (Bottom) Javier Hirschfeld, Profile 4, Clarke, Maidstone, 2020.