Kodak Moment

The weekend off did not really start on time, I drove off to Pick my
Volta “Guugle” brother Guud Kelly and Theo with my able assistant
King George we hit the road. We got to Tsito and saw a smiling face
weaving some wonderful straw hats and wearing a fanciful one, I had
to stop. Guud was made known of my intentions of photographing this
craftsman who I realized was standing supported by a pair of clutches.
When I offered to buy his unfinished hat, he obliged. I further asked
Guud to seek his permission so I could photograph him in his hat; he
said yes and gave a smile that Kodak will be envious off. The weekend
off has started on a good note

Our Daily Bread

It was high noon and the sun was at its harshest. "Bad" time of day to
do outdoor photography? Maybe, maybe not, with my trusted assistant
with me, we headed towards the scrap market in Accra. This
"manufacturing" plant of scraps for the aluminium industry did not
have a "bad" time for working, In the heat, Baba Musa and his boys had
set a huge fire to burn of the rubber and other combustables which
hold any metal in them. With dexterity Baba Musa uses a rake to turn
over the fire and pull out the ones with the rubber melted off and his
"boys " squirt water on it to cool them off .They were happy to
tell me the process and "hell" they go through to have their
"heaven-sent" money. He had no one to blame for working in such a
harsh enviroment. When I asked him why no gloves or face mask to
protect himself, with a warm smile he said "God is the ultimate
protector". The final scrap buyer with merchant scale will determine
how much "heaven" Baba will have for his labour in the scorching sun
and the burning inferno. Welcome to  Agbogbloshie.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

The mouth filter

An okyeame or "linguist" in English, but an okyeame is much more than
a linguist. Communication with the King or with chiefs and fetish
priests will go through an okyeame. The Okyeame is deemed wise and
often uses proverbs to put across the message of the King. It is
believed if there is ever a "bad" message spoken by the king, the
Okyeame becomes the filter that refines the message and puts it across
the Kings audience in acceptable way. Always characterized by their
staffs which has totems of the King or clan which they represent.
Okyeame, the modern day P.R.O