Rita Pena is a Portuguese photographer and visual artist based in Nottingham, whose practice explores relationships between place, identity, memory and socio-political narratives through lens-based storytelling. Her work frequently engages with community contexts and examines how environments and cultural histories shape collective and personal identities. She develops projects through collaborative research, often combining documentary, conceptual and participatory photographic approaches. Rita’s work has a strong focus on analogue processes and the materiality of the work, which includes darkroom printing, book and frame making by hand. Rita’s artistic work looks to intersect photobook making and socially engaged photography practices, reinforcing the accessibility and circulation of community-generated narratives.
Rita has previously worked on The Meadows, a collaborative and community-embedded project documenting neighbourhood transformation and collective histories, demonstrating her ability to engage with socially complex environments through visual storytelling.
She is currently working on Parto Sem Dor/Notes on Portuguese-ness, an ongoing project examining the complexities and meaning of contemporary "Portuguese-ness" - from an inquiry into how cultural and nationalist identities are constructed and transmitted to her personal introspections on her relationship to her family and country.
She is also a volunteer at Sequence: Nottingham Centre for Photography and Social Engagement.
Programs and Exhibitions
- University of Nottingham and Make it Easy Lab 2023 Residency Program - Out of the six residents who took part in the program, I was one of the two chosen to extend the residency for further development of the project.
- Group exhibition hosted at Beam Gallery, Nottingham.
- Portfolio Review with Magnum Photos at Rencontres d’Arles 2024
- East Meets West Masterclass 24/25 - organised by Grain Projects, Format Festival and Quad Derby
- Unloud group exhibition - Turntable Gallery, Grimsby - February 2025
- Overture group exhibition - FORMAT Festival - March 2025
- The Meadows - solo exhibition - Green Meadows’ Climate Hub - September 2025
- The Sisterhood Collective group exhibition - November 2025
- Centre de la Photographie Genève Mentorship Program - mentored by Thi My Lien Nguyen - Summer/Autumn 2025