The TRUE AFRICA 100 is our list of innovators, opinion-formers, game-changers, pioneers, dreamers and mavericks who we feel are shaping the Africa of today.
Namsa Leuba is a Swiss-Guinean photographer. Her work juxtaposes, re-works, challenges and examines ‘African identity through Western eyes’. Namsa is represented by Art Twenty One Lagos and has received a variety of accolades such as the PhotoGlobal Prize Award in 2012.
Her work has been exhibited in places as diverse as Hong Kong and New York. Her editorial work has been published in New York Magazine and Wad Magazine which published series Cocktail No. 53. She’s done editorial spreads for Comme Des Garçons for i-D and more.
Does being African inform your creative process and photographic work?
My origins are Swiss and Guinean. My African culture gives me a special essence to go forward, see and get a different perception of identity through my western eye.
See traditionally dressed South African children captured by photographer Namsa Leuba. http://t.co/v4XpkqtUBh pic.twitter.com/jDQd68hm1g
— Cape Insights (@Cape_Insights) October 18, 2015
What has it taken to become a successful photographer like yourself?
I’ve had to believe in what I’m doing and work on my dual identities which are in a permanent struggle. I try to reconcile my identities through a form of cultural syncretism, which questions the ambiguity of ethnocentrism.
Who’s your African of the year?
Joana Choumali: her work is strong and great!
Check out Namsa’s work on namsaleuba.com
Follow Art Twenty One Lagos @Art21Lagos
Come back tomorrow for the next TRUE Africa 100 and keep up to date using the hashtag #TRUEAfrica