About
Joana Dionisio (b. 1993) is a Portuguese visual artist based in Porto, where she works as a freelancer on various commissioned and personal projects.
Having first studied Audiovisual Communication Technologies, she completed a Master in Artistic and Documentary Photography in 2021 and currently, she is a PhD student in Contemporary Art.
Joana has exhibited her work in a range of solo and group shows, she was selected for FRESH EYES 2022, a publication showcasing emerging European Photography Talent by GUP Magazine , was nominated as a new talent for FUTURES in 2023 by Bienal Fotografia do Porto and in 2024 won the Novos Talentos Fnac contest.
Joana’s practice is rooted in the exploration of memory and time.
At the core of her creative process is a narrative construction shaped by autobiographical intention. She delves into her own memories, documents, and personal artifacts, using them as vessels to bridge the temporal divide between past and present.
Through this lens, she investigates the connections and tensions between individual experiences and collective human struggles, reflecting on how personal histories contribute to a shared understanding of the human condition.
Her practice invites the audience to contemplate how individuals relate to themselves, to one other, and the broader world, often challenging them to confront the balance between permanence and impermanence.
Education
2024 — now:
PhD in Contemporary Art
2020 — 2021:
Master in Artistic Photography, IPCI
2014 — 2017:
Degree in Audiovisual Communication Technologies with a specialty in photography, ESMAE - (DGES Merit scholarship)
2011 — 2014:
Degree in Product Design, ESAD
SOLO SHOWS
2024
“Tudo é incomodo quando a terra treme”
ENCONTROS DA IMAGEM - International Photography and Visual Arts Festival
GNRATION, Braga
“Tudo é incomodo quando a terra treme”
NARRATIVA, Lisbon
Novos Talentos Fnac
“Tudo é incomodo quando a terra treme”
FNAC Norteshopping
Novos Talentos Fnac
2023
“Um mundo que fala ao teu ouvido”
FNAC Chiado
MDOC
2022
“And the shape of things disappeared for a while”
GALERIA DE ARTE - Mira Maia
2021
“And the shape of things disappeared for a while”
ENCONTROS DA IMAGEM - International Photography and Visual Arts Festival
CAAA, Guimarães
2017
“Blind Spot”
CAL - ASSOCIAÇÃO CULTURAL
S.A. Bar Galeria, Ponte de Lima
GROUP SHOWS
2024
“Perspectivas - 25 de Abril”
Fortaleza de Sagres
“MFA”
Faculdade de Belas Artes, Lisbon
“MFA”
Fábrica da Cerveja, Faro
“MFA”
Clube Fenianos, Porto
2023
“And the shape of things disappeared for a while”
INSHADOW FESTIVAL
Espaço Santa Catarina, Lisbon
“Through my lens”
ARTDOC Photography Magazine
“And the shape of things disappeared for a while”
HUBTEKK, Porto
Installation “Untitled#1”
Exposed Turino Foto Festival x FUTURES x C2C Club to club x Unstated
MOSTRA NACIONAL DE JOVENS CRIADORES - Fotografia
Centro Municipal de Juventude, Vila do Conde
MDOC - Melgaço International Documentary Film Festival
Casa da cultura de Melgaço
Decagon Gallery - Flash #10
Online exhibition
LUMINIC - Festival de Fotografia de Sant Cugat
Galeria Blanca
“Nature’s way”
PATIENCE GALLERY
Online exhibition
FRESH EYES 2022
Haute Photographie Rotterdam
“CINCO ANOS DE FOTOLIVROS”
Instituto de Produção Cultural e Imagem, Porto
2022
MOSTRA NACIONAL DE JOVENS CRIADORES
Forum Municipal Romeu Correia
LISBON’S PHOTOBOOK FAIR 12TH
Arquivo municipal de Lisboa
“Raizes vinculadas”
Rua da Estação - Antigo Apeadeiro de Canelas, Estarreja
LOOSENART Mostra Collettiva
Millepiani, via N. Odero, 13 Roma
“Rostos da Maré- Vidas Cruzadas entre Matosinhos, Vila do Conde e Póvoa de Varzim”
Mercado de Matosinhos
Centro de Memória, Vila do Conde
Centro Póvoa Empresas, Póvoa de Varzim
“Remapear as margens: Hipsografias do centro”
F/EST AMARANTE- International Photography Festival
“Margem”
PB27 GALLERY
“Expanded Photography - Towards a collective reinvention”
ÁGORA
Online exhibition
2021
“Sentir Mais do que um Porto”
APDL
Bienal jovem Loures
Jov’arte
2017
“Projeto 17”
CENTRO PORTUGUÊS DE FOTOGRAFIA, Porto
“Lady Perfection”
XIX BIENAL INTERNACIONAL DE ARTE DE CERVEIRA
“Porto das sombras e das formas”
7º MERCADO DAS ARTES, Ponte de Lima
2015
Sementeira
JARDINS EFÉMEROS, Viseu
“(Con)junto”
PALÁCIO DAS ARTES, Porto
Winner
Novos Talentos FNAC
2024
Main Prize Honourable Mention
PHMUSEUM Women Photographers Grant
2024
Finalist
Discovery Award, Encontros da Imagem
2024
Finalist
Open call “Mystery”
Gaze Magazine
2024
Finalist
Mostra Nacional de jovens criadores - Fotografia
Gerador
2023
Member
Futures Platform
Nominated by CiClo Plataforma de Fotografia
2023
Selected
Luminic - Festival de Fotografia de Sant Cugat
Awarded as one of the runner-up prizes
2023
Finalist
Mostra Nacional de jovens criadores - Fotografia
Gerador
2022
3rd prize
Open Call “Ode to Earth”
Estação – Associação Cultural
Estarreja
2022
Selected
GUP Magazine for the FRESH EYES book as an emerging European Photography Talent
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2022
Selected
Portfolio review with Jim Goldberg and Alessandra Sanguinetti
Encontros do olhar
2022
Finalist
Concurso Jov’Arte 2021
Bienal Jovem, Loures
2021
3rd prize
Photography contest “Sentir... Mais que um porto”
APDL
2021
Nominee
Porto Fashion Film Festival
Author Fashion Films Best Director
2017
DGES Merit scholarship
Audiovisual Communication Technologies with a specialty in photography
2017
Selected
Concurso de Artes e Talentos - Fábrica de talentos
2015
Press, Publications, Interviews, Features
Descendências Magazine, Setembro, 2024
Público, Ana Marques Maia, 2024
Postal Algarve, 2024
MNJC Catalog, 2023
ARTDOC Photography magazine, 2023
FUTURES annual publication, 2023
FLASH #10, Decagon Gallery Catalog, 2023
Catalog of Failures, Issue 3, 2023
Melgaço International Documentary Film Festival, Catalog, 2023
Death in the family, Mechanical soft Press, 2023
PhMuseum, Story of the Week, 2023
Transference Mag, 2023
Transformative Power of Art Journal Volume 1, Issue 2, Winter 2023
FRESH EYES 2022, Gup magazine, 2022
Time Silence Photography, Quarterly Publication, Fall 2022 Issue
MNJC Catalog, 2022
ADFPhoto, critique by Francisco González Fernández, 2022
B.A.T. (Boisé, Aride & Touffu) nº05, Super Issue Éditions, Limited Edition of 120, 2022
Angels, Issue number 1, Healthline Zine 2022
Open Exhibition Catalog, Loosenart, 2022
Rostos da Maré, Vidas em Rede entre Matosinhos, Vila do Conde e Póvoa do Varzim, ESMAD, P. Porto, 2022
Superpresent Volume 2, Issue number 1, Goupi Publishing, Winter 2022
Sola journal, interview by Alice Oliver, 2022
Jov’arte, Câmara Municipal de Loures, 2021
Génesis 2:1, Encontros da imagem, 2021
Porto., Câmara Municipal do Porto, 2020
Rave, Politécnico do Porto, 2017
Educator at IPCI, 2023 - now
Educator at Leica Akademie, 2024
Jury at Chromatic Photography Awards, 2024
Artist in Residence at Sustentar - Ciclo Plataforma de Fotografia, 2024
Jury at Chromatic Photography Awards, 2023
Guest Lecturer, “Emergentes, o que é ?”, Instituto de Produção Cultural e Imagem, Porto, 2023
Guest Lecturer, 13ª Feira do Livro de Fotografia, Arquivo Muncipal de Lisboa, 2023
Guest Lecturer, Colégio Nossa Senhora da Paz, 2023
Guest Lecturer, Escola Superior de Media Artes e Design, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, 2022
Artist in Residence at Plano Frontal, MDOC International Documentary Film Festival, 2022
Invited Photographer for the project “Rostos da Maré, Vidas em Rede entre Matosinhos, Vila do Conde e Póvoa do Varzim”, ESMAD, P. Porto, 2022
2017 - 2020 - Photographer at Farfetch
© 2025. Joana Dionísio. All rights reserved