For over 20 years, French-born photographer and artist Aline Luna Less has made Jamaica her home, embracing the culture and its people.

Now she is allowing others to experience her journey through her eyes, displaying her latest work, titled ‘The Eyes Are The Light’, which opened on Friday, November 1, at the French Embassy in Kingston.

Supported primarily by friends and family, Less displayed her latest offerings of photos and paintings, seeking to capture the best of human nature while also recognising the struggle between dark and light. For Less, her work combines her love of the country of her birth, the Jamaican culture she has assimilated, plus, it allows people to see the best of themselves.

“Most of the exhibition spotlights people that I met during my 24-year journey here. So, for me, it is a combination of my two hearts that I bring together,” Less told the Jamaica Observer. “To me, the eyes are a reflection of the soul. And, through my eyes, I want to capture the best of humanity, which is love, being authentic, being kind. Because there is a duality in human nature. There is a dark side to humanity, and there is a positive side to humanity.”

While all pieces addressed the theme, one that has special significance to her is Captivator, which was influenced by the trauma unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of note is that it is the only one which has the character’s eyes closed.

“It was during COVID-19, where everyone started to get very desperate, and I decided to have my character with the eyes closed. The pandemic forced us to chill, reflect, and await the outcome of this crisis. So this one is very special to me,” she said.

Another of her favourite is a character called Carlton,
who is adorned with jewellery made out of coffee pots and other accessories, invoking similarities to the late reggae icon Lee “Scratch” Perry.

In her more than two decades in her adopted home, Less said that she has cherished not only how genuine and helpful Jamaicans were [to her] when she first arrived on the island, but also her understanding of the Rastafari movement and her acknowledgement of the history that both Jamaica and the continent of Africa share.

“What Jamaica has shown me is the link to Africa, which is our Motherland. So, however we look, Africa is our Motherland, and I see that link between Jamaica and Africa. So it opened my eyes to a path of history that belongs to all of us,” she shared.

Through her work, Less hopes others will not only reflect but be inspired to see the good that is in themselves.

“I want them to reflect on the duality of human nature because both of them are in us; both the dark and the light. So it’s something that we need to know about each and every one of us… But I want them to feel good,” she added. “I want them to see that there is something beautiful and authentic about human nature as well.”

Nadine McNeil, personal development facilitator and guest speaker for the launch, praised Less’s work and highlighted the importance of the theme, notably, the eyes as “windows to our souls”.

“There are two things I feel that connect us as humans wherever we go — our eyes and our smiles. We don’t have to speak a language. I look at you, we smile, and we connect. She has captured the essence of her adopted home — remaining French by birth, and Jamaican by nature,” McNeil said.

French Ambassador to Jamaica Olivier Guyonvarch, who opened the show, congratulated Less on how her pieces displayed the best of both France and Jamaica.

“You show your love for Jamaica and, for me, it represents the love we the French have for Jamaica. Paris is the city of love and Jamaica is the country of ‘One Love’,” Guyonvarch said. “It shows the best of France and the best of Jamaica together and only you could see that with the embrace of your French culture and Jamaican love.”

Lifestyle@jamaicaobserver.com