To celebrate its partnership with Art Basel Switzerland contemporary art fair, luxury Swiss skincare brand La Prairie partnered with three up-and-coming female photographers of Swiss origin, to commission photographs for its "Eyes in Focus" exhibition, honoring the strength and power behind the female gaze. The three chosen photographers were Daniela Droz, Namsa Leuba and Senta Simond. In her work, Namsa Leuba uses black-and-white technique with a colorful frame to emphasize and capture the present moment, which is also a reflection of her Swiss and Guinean heritage. The "Eyes in Focus" brief was apt, given that La Prairie also introduced its Skin Caviar Eye Lift with Caviar Premier, to lift, firm, de-puff and smooth the eye area. Here, I sit with Namsa Leuba to discuss her photography, the partnership and what inspires her stunning work.
Photo Credit: Christian Oth Studio
Tell me about your series with La Prairie, in your own words.
My work is about expression and inscription of the shared experience: modeling of the time by the prolongation of the image. Through my pictures, I want to evoke the existence, exploration and emotion.
How did you feel when La Prairie first approached you?
I am proud to participate and to bring my vision of the project to such a venture.
What does it mean for you, as an artist, to have your work showcased in this type of environment?
It's great to participate in an art commission and La Prairie gave us the topic "Eyes in Focus." It is a good challenge [and] I am really excited to be part of this venture. I find it interesting that three women each bring their own vision and sensitivity to this project.
Photo Credit: Christian Oth Studio
From where do you draw inspiration?
I find my inspiration in my double heritage, origins, meetings and exchanges.
You explore the idea of beauty through time, in this work. Can you explain that further, as well as how you define and represent beauty in your work?
Three words to describe each piece: emotion, time and experience. Beauty in my work is a permanent search for harmony and the idea that beauty can sublimate through this work. I try to illustrate time conceptually through the prism of self-inscription of the shared experience. Time is then staged in the extension of the image by the frame, abstraction of the impressions that persist in us of what they have to signify.
What is it about the eyes in particular that drew you to emphasize them?
The focus on the eyes makes it possible to capture the gaze or the symbolism which is attached to it, the way in which emotions are addressed, and what is inscribed in us when we share them.
Photo Credit: Christian Oth Studio
What do you hope that the viewer takes away from your photos?
I want to evoke through my pictures: the existence, exploration and emotion. My starting point for this project was, 'What persists in time, in life, in us...to love because time is the impression that persists of what is shared.'
What's next for you and what can we expect from you in the future?
I am working for Dior on a new project, I work for Netflix and on my own work. You will see it soon.
