RAQUEL BELLI
Portugal
Mother, photographer and visual artist, Portuguese with Italian roots, Raquel Belli (b. 1982) graduated in Plastic Arts, at ESAD in Caldas da Rainha, in 2006. In 2008 she completed the Technical Photography Course at ETIC, where she developed and deepened her photography scene. She collaborated and participated in several group and individual exhibitions during her studies, having subsequently interned and worked for some years with the magazine Volta Ao Mundo, where documentary and travel photography gained importance in her career.
In Timor, she collaborated in the creation of the WAP (WomenArtPower), which aimed, through support for the creation and dissemination of art made by women, to empower women in a society that largely still sees them as an incapable and subservient being. Still in Timor, she published a book of photographs about the country's peculiar Christmas, in collaboration with José Ramos-Horta and Xanana Gusmão (“Aqui Onde O Sol, Logo Em Nascendo, Vê Primeiro”, 2014).
In addition to her documentary work for magazines and newspapers, the latter years have been dedicated to the development of plasticity in her photographs, through the application of techniques and patterns used in basketwork and weaving, taking advantage of the apparent randomness of the objects/subjects portrayed and created aesthetics.
She has been exhibiting her work in galleries, cultural spaces and also on the streets.
