Greetings! I’m William Riera, a photographer, a globe-trotter, and a keen observer of life’s tapestry. Photography for me it’s a way of existence, a creed, a dance with light and shadow that weaves tales of humanity.
Immersing myself in the myriad emotions of humanity through the lens is like embarking on an exhilarating voyage. When the elements of light, moment, and composition harmonize, magic unfolds, etching memories that linger.
My heart beats for the raw authenticity of documentary-style photography. The streets are my canvas, where I seek to ignite contemplation on the common threads uniting us amidst our diverse paths.
Beyond capturing moments, I find joy in orchestrating artistic endeavors. From managing projects to collaborating with fellow creatives, I thrive in the realm of art curation. My journey has led me to found the South Florida Latin American Photography Forum (SoFLaFoto), a vibrant platform celebrating the rich tapestry of Latin American and Latinx visual artistry across borders.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Kaleidoscope. Arts Connection Foundation Exhibition Gallery. May - July, 2024. Miami, Florida.
Highway 27: In Search of my Eudaimonia. Exhibition Space Photography School “Página en Blando”. February 2024. Mexico City, Mexico.
Octubre. Online Photography Exhibition. July 2020. Miami, Florida.
How to Survive en Miami? Exhibition Space Photography School “Página en Blando”. January 2020. Mexico City, Mexico.
Black & White Photography Retrospective Exhibition. Galería Adelmo. Little Havana Art District. May - June 2017. Miami, Florida.
Santiago de Cuba in My Heart: An Intimate Portrait of the City Through the Lens of William Riera. New Professions Technical Institute Art Gallery. June - October 2015.. Miami, Florida.
Souls: Evocative Portraits from Around the World, Art Space @ BPA Accounting Services Inc.. October 2014. Coral Gables, Florida,
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Artistas con Mayúsculas, Espai de Creació NauART, Barcelona, Spain, March 2026.
El Espectador (The Spectator), Centro Cívico Barceloneta, Barcelona, Spain, June–July 2025.
I, Me & Myself: Miami Vibes. Clandestina Art Fair, presented by Arts Connection Foundation. December, 2024.
End of Story – Latin American Identity. Doral International Art Fair (DIAF), presented by Arts Connection Foundation (Doral, Florida), November 2024.
En/Sueños – MargenFest Toluca, presented by Página en Blando (Toluca, Mexico) , November 2024.
Lente Latine / Latin Lens, Gallery of New Jersey City University Center for the Arts, September–October 2024.
Artepoli en Confluencia, Sala Confluencia, Poblenou, Barcelona, Spain, May 2024.
Movimiento Oscilatorio, 28th Fotovisión Festival, Fine Art Institute of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, September–November 2023.
Breaking More Boundaries…, The Plaxall Gallery at CulturalLabLIC, Long Island City, New York, June–July 2023.
Take Me. Take This: Embracing Queer Narratives, Miami International Fine Arts (MIFA), Miami, Florida, USA, June–July 2023.
The Chronicle is the Fable for this Timid Eyes, Miami International Fine Arts (MIFA), Miami, Florida, USA, June–July 2023.
Carnaval: El mundo al revés, Gallery Héctor Azar, Casa de la Cultura, Puebla, Mexico, February–March 2023.
Movimiento Oscilatorio, Centro Queretano de la Imagen, Querétaro, Mexico, July 2022.
Dinámicas Urbanas, Photography School “Página en Blando,” Mexico City, Mexico, September 2022.
Take Me. Take This, Doral Contemporary Art Museum, Miami, Florida, USA, June–August 2022.
Free to Be…, The Plaxall Gallery at CulturalLabLIC, Long Island City, New York, June–July 2022.
Besos, IX Photography Biennial “Alfredo Sarabia in Memoriam,” Online Exhibition, Havana, Cuba, October 2020.
305-COVID-19: Miradas in Miami in Times of Covid-19, Online Exhibition, Miami, Florida, USA, September–October 2020.
Capture Coral Gables 2020, Finalist, Juried Photography Exhibit, Coral Gables Museum, Miami, Florida, USA, February 2020.
Body + Memory + City, Group Exhibition, PhotoAlicante / FIU Graham Center Art Gallery, Miami, Florida, USA, December 2019.
Urban Dance, Visual Rhythm of Cities, The Plaxall Gallery, Long Island City, Queens, New York, June–July 2019.
Body + Memory + City, Contemporary Photography Group Exhibition, PhotoAlicante International Photography Festival, Alicante, Spain, March 2019.
Capture Coral Gables 2019, Finalist, Juried Photography Exhibit, Coral Gables Museum, Miami, Florida, USA, January 2019.
Iré a Santiago de Cuba, Luz y Plata Gallery Space, Escuela Práctica de Fotografía, Puebla, Mexico, November–December 2018.
Earth Day (Día de la Tierra), Peña’s Art Gallery, Miami Hispanic Cultural Art Center, Miami, Florida, USA, April–May 2018.
Storytelling Through the Lens, Gold Coast Arts Center, Great Neck, New York, September–December 2018.
Nature into Art / Art into Nature, Miami Beach Botanical Garden, Miami Beach, Florida, USA, October 2017.
Cuban Art Invitational, BayArts Visual Arts & Education Campus, Bay Village, Ohio, USA, July–August 2017.
Capture Coral Gables 2016, Finalist, Juried Photography Exhibit, Coral Gables Museum, Miami, Florida, USA, June–August 2016.
Expressions: The Afterlife of Color, Milander Center for Arts and Entertainment, Hialeah, Florida, USA, April–July 2016.
Six Women, Two Men, Eight Views on Photography, RAW Space Art Gallery, Vero Beach, Florida, USA, April 2016.
Help Hope Nepal Mural, Contemporary Art Projects USA, Spectrum Art Fair, Miami, Florida, USA, December 2015.
Made in Miami: Contemporary Photography, Miami Photo Salon, Del Castillo Art Studio, Hialeah, Florida, USA, November–December 2015.
La Pared (The Wall) Art Project, Del Castillo Art Studio, Hialeah, Florida, USA, October 2015.
Miami B.C. (Black Curators), Little Haiti Cultural Center, Miami, Florida, USA, August 2015.
Capture Coral Gables 2015, Finalist, Juried Photography Exhibit, Coral Gables Museum, Miami, Florida, USA, June–August 2015.
A Shadow of Every Origin, Del Castillo Art Studio, Hialeah, Florida, USA, May 2015.
Photo-Voice Exhibit, Celebrate Diversity Miami, Museum Park, Best in Show, First Edition Juried Photography Contest, Miami, Florida, USA, April 2015.
Contemplating Shadows, Futurama 1635 Art Gallery, Miami, Florida, USA, March 2015.
Grandeur, RAW Artists: Miami, LMNT Art Gallery, Midtown, March 2015.
Miami Photo Salon, 1st Edition, Finalist, Juried Photography Competition, Art Basel Week, Miami, Florida, USA, December 2014.
ART EDUCATION
Degrees and Diplomas
Master’s Degree in Modern and Contemporary Art (Maestría en Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo), Centro Cultural Casa Lamm, Mexico City, Mexico, 2022.
Diploma in Creative Photography (Diplomado en Fotografía Creativa), Página en Blando, Mexico City, Mexico, 2022.
Diploma in Photography and Urban Dynamics (Diplomado en Fotografía y Dinámicas Urbanas), Página en Blando, Mexico City, Mexico, 2020.
Professional Photography Program, New York Institute of Photography, 2003–2007.
Black & White Photography and Computer Arts, Miami-Dade College, Miami, Florida, 2001.
Workshops and Specialized Seminars
Art Curation Workshop led by Félix Suazo, Urbe University, Miami, Florida, 2024.
Approaches to Contemporary Art (Aproximaciones al Arte Contemporáneo), Fundación Sala Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela, 2020.
Interdisciplinary Art and Politics in Latin America (Indisciplinas: Apuntes sobre Arte y Política en América Latina), Fundación Sala Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela, 2020.
Photographic Code: Critique and Interpretation (Laboratorio de Crítica e Interpretaciones del Código Fotográfico), directed by Juan Antonio Molina Cuesta, Página en Blando, Mexico City, 2019.
Photographic Narrative and Visual Discourse (Narrativa Fotográfica y Discurso Visual), Wilson Prada Photography School, Caracas, Venezuela, 2018.
Photography as Research: The Artist as Investigator (La Investigación en la Fotografía: El artista como investigador), Wilson Prada Photography School, Caracas, Venezuela, 2018.
Curatorial Projects Workshop (Laboratorio de Proyectos Curatoriales), Página en Blando, Mexico City, 2017–2018.
Photographic Code: Critique and Interpretation (Laboratorio de Crítica e Interpretaciones del Código Fotográfico), Página en Blando, Mexico City, 2016–2017.
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
Artificial Intelligence Awareness Certificate issued by Miami-Dade College, October 2025 - May 2026
AI for Managers Certificate issued by Microsoft Corporation and LinkedIn, April, 2026
Project Management Professional Certificate, Florida International University, Miami, FL 2004
Bachelor’s of Science, Summa Cum Laude (Diploma de Oro), Software Systems Engineering, Havana Polytechnic Institute "José Antonio Echeverría", Havana, Cuba, 1990
AWARDS
2023 Fellowship for Queer, Transgender, and Women Artists Documenting Trans Lives Experiences from Miami-based Arts Connection Foundation. This Fellowship allowed the participation in the workshop “Photobook as Object” taught by celebrated Japanese Professor Yumi Goto and organized by WOPHA Foundation.
2020 Finalist, IX Photography Biennal “Alfredo Sarabia in Memoriam”. Havana, Cuba, 2020
2018 Chosen Winner, AI-AP Latin American Fotografía 7
2017 Selected Winner, AI-AP Latin American Fotografía 6
PRESS AND MEDIA
Portfolio en View. Hypermedia Magazine. Septiembre 5th, 2021
Los 50 años de los CDR con lentejuelas. Hypermedia Magazine. June, 18th, 2021.
“Portfolio in Red”. Revista El Estornudo. November 12th, 2020
“Santiago’s Colors”. Revista El Estornudo. October 22nd, 2020
“A ti, Cachita”. Revista El Estornudo. September 10th, 2020.
“Escalinatas de Santiago”. BEX Fotografía Latinoamericana. August, 2020
“Escalinatas de Santiago”. Revista El Estornudo. August 20th, 2020
“Altares en Miami”. Revista El Estornudo. December 5th, 2019
“La Foto de la Semana”. Periodismo de Barrio. Mayo, 2019
“Los Santiagueros, Siglo XXI”. Bex Fotografía Latinoamericana. Bariloche, Argentina, 2019.
Earth Day (Día de la Tierra). Group Photography Exhibition. Peña’s Art Gallery of Miami Hispanic Cultural Art Center, April-May 2018.
“Santiago Adentro”. Revista El Estornudo. May 16th, 2018
"Recorrió el mundo y ahora expondrá sus mejores fotos en La Pequeña Habana." El Nuevo Herald, Miami, May 24th, 2017
"Santiago de Cuba vive en la obra fotográfica de un Miamense." El Nuevo Herald, Miami, June 25th, 2015
PRESENTATIONS
XXXVIII Feria del Libro del Palacio de la Minería, Ciudad de México, March 2017. Presentation of the Photography Series “Santiago de Cuba in My Heart”
Centro Cultural Español Miami, October 2016. Presentation of the Photography Series “Santiago de Cuba in My Heart”, invited by Ediciones Baquiana on the presentation of their XVII Yearbook
CURATORIAL AND ART MANAGEMENT WORK
2025 – Picturing Queerness in the Americas: Cathedral of Lust by Derbis Campos. Virtual exhibition, SoFLaFoto. June–August, Miami, Florida, USA.
2024 – Picturing Queerness in the Americas: Visions of Identity, Resistance, and Community. Virtual exhibition, Fotoseptiembre 30th edition, Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico. September–October.
2023 – Ali Miranda: Beyond Photography and Homoculture. Virtual exhibition, SoFLaFoto. June–July, Miami, Florida, USA.
2022 – Picturing Queerness in the Americas. Group exhibition curated with Yenny Hernández Valdés, SoFLaFoto. June–July, Miami, Florida, USA.
2021 – Decisive Metaphors: Rem(o)n Díaz in Retrospect. Online exhibition of Spanish Cuban photographer Rem(o)n Díaz, SoFLaFoto. May–June, Miami, Florida, USA.
2021 – Hold Still: Pandemic in Havana (La enfermedad sobre la enfermedad en La Habana) by Manuel Almenares. Online exhibition of Cuban photographer Manuel Almenares, SoFLaFoto. January–February, Miami, Florida, USA.
2016 – Six Women, Two Men, Eight Views on Photography. RAW Space Art Gallery, Vero Beach, Florida, USA. April.
2015 – Through the Women’s Eyes: A Celebration of Women Photography. Miami Photo Salon, Miami, Florida, USA. December.
2015 – Made in Miami: Contemporary Photography. Miami Photo Salon, Del Castillo Art Studio, Hialeah, Florida, USA. November–December.