NAROA PÉREZ IGURAN
London, UK | naroa@naroaphoto.com
Portfolio: naroaphoto.com | IG: @naroaphoto

ARTIST STATEMENT

My practice explores the intersections of touch, nostalgia, and fear, engaging with photography not only as an image-making tool but as a tactile and conceptual medium. For over two decades, I have worked with darkroom processes, embracing mistake, chance, and repetition as guiding principles. These methods allow me to challenge conventional notions of control and perfection while foregrounding the vulnerability and resilience embedded in human experience.

Two long-term bodies of work embody these concerns. The Trail of Touch investigates how skin remembers and forgets, how tactile gestures convey empathy, and how photography can preserve or translate the haptic into visual form. Through handmade books and fragile photographic objects, I have sought to create a physical archive of emotional connection—a practice recognized in public collections such as the V&A and the Bodleian Library.

In contrast, Reversed Fear confronts the invisible structures of fear that condition women's presence in public space. By photographing nocturnal environments with expired E6 film, I invert fear's compass, reclaiming spaces that women are taught to abandon. Each image is both a personal act of bravery and a demand for cultural change, insisting that fear must change sides.

At its core, my work seeks to create slow but profound change. By transforming fear into resistance, and touch into connection, I hope to contribute to a cultural shift—one that offers women new ways of seeing, being, and belonging.

EDUCATION

  • 2025–2026 MA Creative Practice (ongoing)Morley College, London

  • 2014–2017 BA Photography London College of Communication, UAL

  • 1996–2001 BA Pedagogy (Education)University of the Basque Country, San Sebastián

  • 2004 Graphic Design Course AREA School, San Sebastián

  • 2002–2003 Photography Studies Ivasfot School, San Sebastián

Additional Fine-Art Training

  • 2013 Landscapes of Globalization with Xavier Ribas Arteleku, San Sebastián

  • 2013 Is Photography Easy? with Jose Manuel Navia Cabo de Gata, Spain

  • 2012 Photographic Vision with Eduardo Momeñe Cabo de Gata, Spain

  • 2012 Behind the Camera with Oscar Molina Arteleku, San Sebastián

  • 2004 Interior Design & Property Photography Efti PhotoSchool, Madrid

COLLECTIONS & PUBLIC ARCHIVES

  • 2020–present Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), LondonThe Trail of Touch (Artist Book)

  • 2020–present Bodleian Libraries, Weston Library, Oxford UniversityThe Trail of Touch (Rare Books Collection)

  • 2020–present San Telmo Museum, San SebastiánThe Trail of Touch (Gabriela Cendoya-Bergareche Collection)

  • 2020–present UAL Library, London College of CommunicationThe Trail of Touch (Artist Book)

  • 2020–present Baylor University, Texas, USAThe Trail of Touch (Artist Book)

  • 2020–present University of Dundee Library, ScotlandThe Trail of Touch (Artist Book)

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • 2020 The Trail of Touch – Book Presentation & Artist TalkSan Telmo Museum, San Sebastián

  • 2007 AnálisisLezo Culture House, Basque Country

  • 2004 AnálisisPhotogallery Hiru.di, San Sebastián

  • 2004 ArgijolasakPhotogallery Hiru.di, San Sebastián

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • 2022 The Trail of Touch: The Womb and the CushionME 2 U: A Collective Manifesto, Bow Open, London

  • 2022 Group Exhibition Experimental Photography Festival, Barcelona

  • 2018 Touch Project SEAS Socially Engaged Art Salon, Brighton

  • 2018 The Trail of TouchE5 Process, Photomoth East London Photography Festival

  • 2018 Análisis – I As Another Wave Collective, Bethnal Green, London

  • 2017 Touch Project Wave Collective, Bethnal Green, London

  • 2017 Touch Project – Embrace Your Inner ChaosTotal Refreshment Centre, London

RESIDENCIES & AWARDS

  • 2022 Curatorspace BursaryThe Trail of Touch – Porcelain Development

  • 2019 Artistic ResidencyRevela-t, Catalonia

  • 2022 Guest Artist (Liquid Emulsion Workshops & Talk)Experimental Festival Barcelona

CURATORIAL PROJECTS

  • 2022 Mistake, Chance and RepetitionCurator, Online Exhibition for Experimental Photography Festival

  • 2021–present Lakeside Darkroom / NOW MUSINGS PHOTOSPACE Founder & Director. Community darkroom, mentorship programme, workshop facilitation, and exhibition programming

PUBLICATIONS & PRESS (Selected)

  • 2021 If We FilmFemale Film Photographers You Should Know – Interview

  • 2020 Gara NewspaperInterview (Spanish)

  • 2020 The Collective MagazineFeature

  • 2020 Nosabemoscomo.comLa nostalgia táctil de Naroa Pérez

  • 2020 Gabriela Cendoya-Bergareche BlogThe Trail of Touch – Photobook Review

  • 2018 Wake Up Screaming Online Magazine Feature

  • 2018 Punto de Fuga Feature

  • 2013 ExperimentoBioFeature

  • 2007 Diario Vasco Exhibition Review

TALKS & LECTURES

  • 2023 Reconceptualizing Institutional Structures: Women's PerspectivesExperimental Festival Barcelona (with Dale Rio, Susan Patrice, Anne Ede)

  • 2020Artist TalkExperimental Festival Barcelona

  • 2020Book Presentation & Artist TalkSan Telmo Museum, San Sebastián

TEACHING & MENTORING (Selected)

  • 2022–present Mentor & Workshop Leader Lakeside Darkroom, London

  • 2021–2022 MentorThe Photography Foundation, London

  • 2020–2021 Mentor UAL Mentoring Programme

  • 2015–2017 Workshop Assistant (Outreach)London College of Communication, UAL

  • 2009–2011Course Leader – Photography Projects San Sebastián Town Hall

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (Selected)

  • 2022–present : Director - Educator - Curator at Lakeside Darkroom / NOW MUSINGS PHOTOSPACE

  • 2021–2022 : Photography Specialist Technician Chan Photographic Imaging, London

  • 2018–2020 : Photography Technician Photofusion, Brixton, London

  • 2010–2013 : Darkroom Manager & Project ManagerArteleku Contemporary Art Institution, San Sebastián

PROFESSIONAL PROFILES