For its second edition, the Maison Ruinart prize has been awarded to one of the artists from the Curiosa sector of Paris Photo: Elsa Leydier, a French photographer born in 1988 who lives in Rio de Janeiro. 

Invited to join the harvest in Champagne during September 2019, Elsa Leydier delivers her artistic vision of the connection between nature and the people who work with the vines. 
 

To produce these works, Elsa Leydier decided to deviate from her usual photography practices and experiment with her equipment. She looked for other possibilities. In Heatwave, she blends “conventional” photographs with experimental ways of capturing light, such as rayograms, which are made by filtering rays of light through materials used to protect champagne from taking on the taste of light.
 

Through this work using light, Elsa wanted to raise the issue of climate change that is transforming the intrinsic connection between people and nature. Heatwave is also a tribute to the expertise, specialist knowledge and secrets of Ruinart, that creates a wine worthy of its reputation each year, despite sometimes unexpected weather. 
 

For the first time, Ruinart has decided to extend the Prize by commissioning Elsa Leydier to produce beauty shot celebrating the House's emblematic cuvée.

In 1764, Ruinart was the first champagne house to market a rosé champagne, known at the time as "oeil de perdrix" (partridge's eye).

These luminous and lush photographs, celebrating nature, echo the exotic notes of this cuvée.