Louie Villanueva

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Louie Villanueva

I Had Wished I Was White (2021)

'I Had Wished I Was White' recounts Louie Villanueva's passage between cultures—one of family and one of peers—using photographs of his parents, food, and settler colonial lifestyles in Canada made over a decade. Images detail specific moments in Villanueva's journey, expressing a universal struggle with identity. Photography provided a third way to tackle growing up, and this selection reveals this unconscious thread throughout life.

'I Had Wished I Was White' is a clear title with personal imagery that gives language to a seldom expressed but commonly experienced tension.

A selection of this project was exhibited at Contemporary Calgary as part of the Exposure Photography Festival's Emerging Photographers Showcase in 2022, as well as the public Fence exhibition in 2023.

Here is a talk and presentation about the work in collaboration with Exposure Photography Festival and The Camera Store.