A glimpse behind Eve Marie Perrin's camera lens

Eve Marie Perrin is a photographer, graphic designer, and DJ based in Lausanne, Switzerland. She moved to Switzerland from Haiti at the age of 11, a turning point for her construction and art practice. Self-taught, she experiments with multiple media, photography being the main one.

After the murder of George Floyd, Eve Marie Perrin wanted to participate in the discussion of police violence and systemic racism in Switzerland. She created the project ‘Our Lives Matter’, a photography series. As black people were at the center of discussion, they were taken away from their own narrative. Eve Marie Perrin wanted to give the power back to black people, with a free space to express and present themselves. Beyond the photographs, Eve Marie Perrin created a space for black people to discuss their own experiences freely. Her goal is to show the diversity within the black population, especially through the representation of LGBTQI+ black people.

Identifying as a lesbian, Eve Marie Perrin always struggled to find welcoming spaces for queer people of color. The lack of representation of black people within Swiss LGBTQI+ organizations has driven her to represent the intersection of these identities through her art. Her black and white photographs emanate conflicting emotions, an assortment of power, and vulnerability. The subjects’ stares convey to the viewer the hardships queer black people face: the absence of safe spaces, the impact of prejudices on mental health, the difficulty of self-construction without representation… But from those portraits also arise strength and hope in the building of safe intersectional support systems.

Scroll down below to discover Eve Marie Perrin's work!