Miguel Proença (*1984, Porto) lives and works in Porto. His practice grounded in long-term projects and collaborations, explores the relationship between place, identity and narrative. As the recipient of a Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship, he graduated with an MA in Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales in 2018, and received his BA in Audio-visual Communication from Instituto Politécnico do Porto in 2011. Proença was one of the artists selected for The Photographers’ Gallery New Talent (TNT2019) exhibition and mentorship program in London. His project The Buzzer has been shortlisted for several awards, including the MACK First Book Award, Fiebre Photobook Award and Unseen Dummy Award (2019). Currently he is working on his first book.
CONTACT
info@miguelproenca.net
+351 935 369 799
Instagram
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| 2018 | MA Documentary Photography, University of South Wales, Cardiff, UK |
| 2011 | BA Audio-Visual Communication Technology, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, PT |
| 2009 | Photography, Instituto Português de Fotografia, Porto, PT |
| 2020 | Nominated, HSBC Prix pour la Photographie, FR |
| 2019 | Selected for The Photographers’ Gallery New Talent, UK |
| 2019 | Shortlisted, MACK First Book Award, UK |
| 2019 | Shortlisted, Unseen Dummy Award, NL |
| 2019 | Shortlisted, Fiebre Photobook Award, ES |
| 2019 | Honourable mention, Encontros da Imagem Photobook Award, PT |
| 2019 | Selected, Magenta Foundation Flash Forward, CA |
| 2018 | Shortlisted, British Journal of Photography, Fractured Stories, UK |
| 2018 | Selected, SOURCE Magazine Graduate Photography, UK |
| 2018 | Selected, Photograd 2018, UK |
| 2017 | Gulbenkian Foundation Grant, PT |
| 2015 | VSCO Artist Initiative Grant, US |
| 2012 | Prémio Estação Imagem, 1st place Daily Life, PT |
| 2009 | Honourable mention, FNAC Novos Talentos, PT |
| 2019 | TPG New Talent Exhibition 2019, The Photographers’ Gallery, London, UK |
| 2019 | A Glitch in the System, Photo Vogue Festival, BASE, Milan, IT |
| 2019 | MACK First Book Award, Photo London, Somerset House, London, UK (book) |
| 2019 | Unseen Dummy Award, Unseen Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (book) |
| 2019 | Fiebre Photobook Festival, Madrid, ES (book) |
| 2018 | The Buzzer, Riga Photomonth, Riga, LV (projection) |
| 2018 | Hiraeth, USW MA Documentary Photography, Truman Brewery, London, UK |
| 2018 | A Tension Span, USW MA Documentary Photography, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, UK |
| 2018 | RAVE Projeto 18, DAI ESMAD, CPF, Porto, PT |
| 2017 | Common Thinking, Milano Photo Week, Milan, IT (projection) |
| 2016 | Thin Line, Museu Municipal Ourense, Ourense, ES |
| 2015 | Sala de Fiestas, Delhi Photo Festival, New Delhi, IN (projection) |
| 2015 | Contemporary Ibero-American Photography, Hillyer Art Space, Washington DC, US |
| 2015 | Thin Line, EI2015 – Museu de Arqueologia D. Diogo de Sousa, Braga, PT |
| 2014 | Der Greif A Process, Neue Galerie im Höhmannhaus, Augsburg, DE |
| 2013 | These Are Young People, Ena Rola Filma, Maribor, SI |
| 2012 | Curandeiros, Prémio Estação Imagem, Cordoaria Nacional, Lisbon, PT |
| 2012 | Curandeiros, Prémio Estação Imagem, CPF, Porto, PT |
| 2011 | RAVE Projeto 11, DAI ESMAE, CPF, Porto, PT |
| 2010 | Los Agarradores, FNAC Novos Talentos, Florence, IT |
| 2010 | Los Agarradores, FNAC Novos Talentos, Torino, IT |
| 2009 | Los Agarradores, FNAC Novos Talentos, Cascais, PT |
| 2009 | Los Agarradores, FNAC Novos Talentos, Funchal, PT |
| 2009 | Los Agarradores, FNAC Novos Talentos, Matosinhos, PT |
“I’m not the one on the front seat,” WÜL Magazine, April 4, 2021
“Doves Fly Over the Eurozone,” Bird in Flight, March 9, 2021
“The Folkloric Issues #3” Youthies Magazine, May 2020
“Behind the Hill #140,” MAPS Magazine, January 2020
“The Buzzer,” Público P3, November 13, 2019
“A Glitch in the System,” Vogue Italia, September 25, 2019
“Meet eight of tomorrow’s most exciting talents,” Hero Magazine, June 13, 2019
“Elastic Forms, Elastic Visions,” Lens Culture, May 2019
“Ten Photographers to Have on Your Radar,” Another Magazine, May 10, 2019
“MACK First Book Award Shortlist,” British Journal of Photography, February 22, 2019
“The Buzzer, Issue 95,” Source Photographic Review, August 2018
“Behind the Hill,” It’s Nice That, August 22, 2018
“Fractured Stories: Meet the eight finalists,” British Journal of Photography, July 30, 2018
“Colectivo Thin Line,” NevoAzul, June 2018
“Work in Progress,” VSCO Artist Initiative, September 2016
“Power & Illusion,” Encontros da Imagem de Braga, 2015
“Life on the border of Spain and Portugal,” CNN, December 21, 2015
“Sala de Fiestas,” Ain’t Bad Magazine, June 28, 2015
“Living with the Dead – Inside the Necropolis in Cairo,” FotoRoom, January 2015
“Portfolios PhotoEspaña Descubrimientos,” OjodePez Magazine #36, February 2014
Instituto de Produção Cultural & Imagem, Porto, PT (teaching)
EDO 2021–22: Fragilidade & Transitoriedade, Porto, PT (curatorship)
Imagens do Real Imaginado: Fluxos, Porto, PT (talk)
Escola Superior de Media Artes e Design, PT (jury)
ESMAD, Fotografia & Arquitectura, Vila do Conde, PT (talk)
Escola Superior de Música & Artes do Espectáculo, PT (jury)
Instituto Português de Fotografia, Porto, PT (teaching)
Museu do Douro, Peso da Régua, PT (workshops)
| 2014 | Bienal de Cerveira, Vila Nova de Cerveira, PT |
© 2025 Miguel Proença
Miguel Proença (*1984, Porto) lives and works in Porto. His practice grounded in long-term projects and collaborations, explores the relationship between place, identity and narrative. As the recipient of a Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship, he graduated with an MA in Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales in 2018, and received his BA in Audio-visual Communication from Instituto Politécnico do Porto in 2011. Proença was one of the artists selected for The Photographers’ Gallery New Talent (TNT2019) exhibition and mentorship program in London. His project The Buzzer has been shortlisted for several awards, including the MACK First Book Award, Fiebre Photobook Award and Unseen Dummy Award (2019). Currently he is working on his first book.
CONTACT
info@miguelproenca.net
+351 935 369 799
Newsletter
Instagram
| 2018 | MA Documentary Photography, University of South Wales, Cardiff, UK |
| 2011 | BA Audio-Visual Communication Technology, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, PT |
| 2009 | Photography, Instituto Português de Fotografia, Porto, PT |
| 2020 | Nominated, HSBC Prix pour la Photographie, FR |
| 2019 | Selected for The Photographers’ Gallery New Talent, UK |
| 2019 | Shortlisted, MACK First Book Award, UK |
| 2019 | Shortlisted, Unseen Dummy Award, NL |
| 2019 | Shortlisted, Fiebre Photobook Award, ES |
| 2019 | Honourable mention, Encontros da Imagem Photobook Award, PT |
| 2019 | Selected, Magenta Foundation Flash Forward, CA |
| 2018 | Shortlisted, British Journal of Photography, Fractured Stories, UK |
| 2018 | Selected, SOURCE Magazine Graduate Photography, UK |
| 2018 | Selected, Photograd 2018, UK |
| 2017 | Gulbenkian Foundation Grant, PT |
| 2015 | VSCO Artist Initiative Grant, US |
| 2012 | Prémio Estação Imagem, 1st place Daily Life, PT |
| 2009 | Honourable mention, FNAC Novos Talentos, PT |
| 2019 | TPG New Talent Exhibition 2019, The Photographers’ Gallery, London, UK |
| 2019 | A Glitch in the System, Photo Vogue Festival, BASE, Milan, IT |
| 2019 | MACK First Book Award, Photo London, Somerset House, London, UK (book) |
| 2019 | Unseen Dummy Award, Unseen Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (book) |
| 2019 | Fiebre Photobook Festival, Madrid, ES (book) |
| 2018 | The Buzzer, Riga Photomonth, Riga, LV (projection) |
| 2018 | Hiraeth, USW MA Documentary Photography, Truman Brewery, London, UK |
| 2018 | A Tension Span, USW MA Documentary Photography, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, UK |
| 2018 | RAVE Projeto 18, DAI ESMAD, CPF, Porto, PT |
| 2017 | Common Thinking, Milano Photo Week, Milan, IT (projection) |
| 2016 | Thin Line, Museu Municipal Ourense, Ourense, ES |
| 2015 | Sala de Fiestas, Delhi Photo Festival, New Delhi, IN (projection) |
| 2015 | Contemporary Ibero-American Photography, Hillyer Art Space, Washington DC, US |
| 2015 | Thin Line, EI2015 – Museu de Arqueologia D. Diogo de Sousa, Braga, PT |
| 2014 | Der Greif A Process, Neue Galerie im Höhmannhaus, Augsburg, DE |
| 2013 | These Are Young People, Ena Rola Filma, Maribor, SL |
| 2012 | Curandeiros, Prémio Estação Imagem, Cordoaria Nacional, Lisbon, PT |
| 2012 | Curandeiros, Prémio Estação Imagem, CPF, Porto, PT |
| 2011 | RAVE Projeto 11, DAI ESMAE, CPF, Porto, PT |
| 2010 | Los Agarradores, FNAC Novos Talentos, Florence, IT |
| 2010 | Los Agarradores, FNAC Novos Talentos, Torino, IT |
| 2009 | Los Agarradores, FNAC Novos Talentos, Cascais, PT |
| 2009 | Los Agarradores, FNAC Novos Talentos, Funchal, PT |
| 2009 | Los Agarradores, FNAC Novos Talentos, Matosinhos, PT |
“I’m not the one on the front seat,” WÜL Magazine, April 4, 2021
“Doves Fly Over the Eurozone,” Bird in Flight, March 9, 2021
“The Folkloric Issues #3” Youthies Magazine, May 2020
“Behind the Hill #140,” MAPS Magazine, January 2020
“The Buzzer,” Público P3, November 13, 2019
“A Glitch in the System,” Vogue Italia, September 25, 2019
“Meet eight of tomorrow’s most exciting talents,” Hero Magazine, June 13, 2019
“Elastic Forms, Elastic Visions,” Lens Culture, May 2019
“Ten Photographers to Have on Your Radar,” Another Magazine, May 10, 2019
“MACK First Book Award Shortlist,” British Journal of Photography, February 22, 2019
“The Buzzer, Issue 95,” Source Photographic Review, August 2018
“Behind the Hill,” It’s Nice That, August 22, 2018
“Fractured Stories: Meet the eight finalists,” British Journal of Photography, July 30, 2018
“Colectivo Thin Line,” NevoAzul, June 2018
“Work in Progress,” VSCO Artist Initiative, September 2016
“Power & Illusion,” Encontros da Imagem de Braga, 2015
“Life on the border of Spain and Portugal,” CNN, December 21, 2015
“Sala de Fiestas,” Ain’t Bad Magazine, June 28, 2015
“Living with the Dead – Inside the Necropolis in Cairo,” FotoRoom, January 2015
“Portfolios PhotoEspaña Descubrimientos,” OjodePez Magazine #36, February 2014
Instituto de Produção Cultural & Imagem, Porto, PT (teaching)
EDO 2021–22: Fragilidade & Transitoriedade, Porto, PT (curatorship)
Imagens do Real Imaginado: Fluxos, Porto, PT (talk)
Escola Superior de Media Artes e Design, PT (jury)
ESMAD, Fotografia & Arquitectura, Vila do Conde, PT (talk)
Escola Superior de Música & Artes do Espectáculo, PT (jury)
Instituto Português de Fotografia, Porto, PT (teaching)
Museu do Douro, Peso da Régua, PT (workshops)
| 2014 | Bienal de Cerveira, Vila Nova de Cerveira, PT |
© 2024 Miguel Proença
Cairo, 2013
Cairo, 2013
Inventário is a collaboration with Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto (MHNC-UP) about the museum collections and its ongoing renovation process.
—
in collaboration with MHNC-UP/Colectivo, June 2016
Inventário is a collaboration with Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto (MHNC-UP) about the museum collections and its ongoing renovation process.
—
in collaboration with MHNC-UP/Colectivo, June 2016
Portugal, 2013–
Portugal, 2013–
The birth of science was the death of superstition.
—Thomas Huxley (Darwin’s bulldog).
We always searched for answers.
Throughout history, through the ages, we have been continuously looking for ways to justify our existence, reasons to justify what our minds could not. Since ancient times, the idea of cosmos responded to the human need to rely on the order of nature and the world, that can link and put things in order. However, this concept evolved through different civilisations and eras, the dawn of monotheism gave ground to the divine.
Healers, men and women of faith, said to hold the cure for all ills, to have the answers to all concerns. Bearers of wisdom that ordinary mortals could envision without ever understanding. Today, they seem to have disappeared, driven into obscurity by the impetus of scientific progress, remain there, hidden from the gaze of modern world.
Behind the Hill documents the healer’s practice and its deep connection to the native landscapes and plants of northeastern Portugal. In the physical and mystical realm, scenes often relate to nature and superstition. Proença catalogues rituals, artefacts, and performances linked to the land—overlooked by the western cumulative model of resource exploitation. The project points to the ongoing tension between technology and the natural world, it also explores humanity’s enduring quest for answers beyond purely an empirical framework.
—
The series was exhibited during The New Talent (TNT 2019) at The Photographers’ Gallery.
2011–2019
The birth of science was the death of superstition.
—Thomas Huxley (Darwin’s bulldog).
We always searched for answers.
Throughout history, through the ages, we have been continuously looking for ways to justify our existence, reasons to justify what our minds could not. Since ancient times, the idea of cosmos responded to the human need to rely on the order of nature and the world, that can link and put things in order. However, this concept evolved through different civilisations and eras, the dawn of monotheism gave ground to the divine.
Healers, men and women of faith, said to hold the cure for all ills, to have the answers to all concerns. Bearers of wisdom that ordinary mortals could envision without ever understanding. Today, they seem to have disappeared, driven into obscurity by the impetus of scientific progress, remain there, hidden from the gaze of modern world.
Behind the Hill documents the healer’s practice and its deep connection to the native landscapes and plants of northeastern Portugal. In the physical and mystical realm, scenes often relate to nature and superstition. Proença catalogues rituals, artefacts, and performances linked to the land—overlooked by the western cumulative model of resource exploitation. The project points to the ongoing tension between technology and the natural world, it also explores humanity’s enduring quest for answers beyond purely an empirical framework.
—
The series was exhibited during The New Talent (TNT 2019) at The Photographers’ Gallery.
2011-2019
There is a bear in the woods.
For some people, the bear is easy to see. Others don’t see it at all.
Some people say the bear is tame. Others say it’s vicious and dangerous.
Since no one can really be sure who’s right,
isn’t it smart to be as strong as the bear?
If there is a bear.
—
© National Archives of Estonia – Rahvusarhiiv for some archival images
In 2019 the dummy was shortlisted for the MACK First Book Award, Unseen Dummy Award and Fiebre Dummy Award, being exhibited at Photo London, Unseen Amsterdam and Fiebre Photobook Festival.
2015–2019
There is a bear in the woods.
For some people, the bear is easy to see.
Others don’t see it at all.
Some people say the bear is tame.
Others say it’s vicious and dangerous.
Since no one can really be sure who’s right,
isn’t it smart to be as strong as the bear?
If there is a bear.
—
© National Archives of Estonia – Rahvusarhiiv for some archival images
The dummy was shortlisted for the Unseen Dummy Award, Fiebre Dummy Award and MACK First Book Award in 2019, and exhibited at Unseen Amsterdam, Fiebre Madrid and Photo London.
2015–2019
Porto, 2019–
Porto, 2019—