Namsa Leuba
Half Guinean, half-Swiss photographer Namsa Leuba is a champion of African visual culture. She channels the contrasts of her African-European roots by looking at tribal identity through a western lens, and for her series Ya Kala Ben – meaning “crossed look” – Namsa draws on the overlapping cultures of her upbringing and explores the rituals and customs of her mother’s native Guinea. Her striking images have been exhibited alongside Martin Parr and Viviane Sassen, and her portraits of local Guinean acrobats who perform at different ceremonies in Conakry were part of a group show at Tiwani Contemporary in London.
About:
Namsa Leuba was born in 1982 from a Guinean mother and a Swiss father. During the past 4 years, her research focused on African identity through Western eyes. She graduated with a Master in Art direction at the University of Art and Design in Lausanne. Her work has been published in numerous magazines, including I-D, Numéro, KALEIDOSCOPE, Foam, Interview, Vice Magazine, New York Magazine, Wallpaper*, Libération, British Journal of Photography, European Photography.
Cocktail Series.
Cocktail Series.
Namsa Leuba has also received notable international recognitions. In 2010, the jury of the photography festival Planche(s) Contact of Deauville (CH), chaired by Bettina Rheims, awarded her the first prize. She then had the opportunity to do an exhibition in Deauville. In 2011, I’ECAL (University of Art and Design Lausanne (CH) awarded her a degree with excellent distinction for her project carried out in Conakry, Guinea. This production, called “Ya Kala Ben”, also received the BCV award. Most significantly, during the 2012 Fashion and Photography Festival in Hyères, she was awarded the PhotoGlobal Prize, which allows her to spend one year in NY. In 2013, Namsa Leuba was one of winners of the Magenta Foundation Flash Forward festival – Emerging Photographers in United States.
Re-enacting Black Panther Photos, 2010.
Recent exhibitions include That Art Fair Cape Town (2015), the Lagos Photo Festival, Nigeria (2014), Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, Canada (2014), Daegu Photo Biennale, South Korea (2014), and Fotofestival’s main exhibition Haute Africa, alongside Martin Parr, Viviane Sassen, Wangechi Mutu, and others, Belgium (2014).
(text website artist)