KINGDOM OF MOUNTAIN

In The Kingdom of Mountains, Namsa Leuba creates performative portraits that explore cultural traditions and aesthetics in the area of Katze Dam in Lesotho. Undertaken during a six month residency in South Africa in 2014, Leuba worked with local inhabitants of the community, whereby the photography intervened by staging the subjects’ clothing and accessories. While posed within a natural setting, with mountains, lakes, and expansive foliage, these portraits are not a documentary portrayal of their daily lives. Rather, the entire image has been constructed by Leuba. At once reflecting aspects of their local culture, as well as a reflection of Leuba’s own art direction, the series explores the thematics of cultural hybridity. Here Leuba continues to question the translation of African traditions within a Western aesthetic framework as she negotiates the duality of her own heritage. 

Selected pictures from the series