November 1, 2008

Ghana, West Africa





Last October just outside Tema, Ghana, West Africa, we came across a small fishing community on the beach. They had their hand carved fishing boat embellished with personal and tribal carvings, a shelter from the weather crafted from palm trunks and fronds and the pots where they cleaned and prepared the catch for sale right on the beach. All this not a mile, and within view, of a hustling and bustling metropolitan area of Ghana with its banks, oil, Mercedes dealerships and suit-wearing business men. It was so different from my experiences in Kenya and Eastern Africa teaming with zebra, giraffe and gazelle, but it was still Africa; primal, sad, beautiful and life changing in so many ways.

5 comments:

  1. beautiful images. the colors, crop, angles, depth of field, ect... are chosen quit well. It brings a different mind set of "Africa". not just desert and lions.

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  2. sweet. great colors. love all the shots.

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  3. That my feeling in shooting these exactly. I had seen the animal parks and the giraffes running free in the grassy plains, but this was a completely different side, literally, of Africa for me.

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  4. I really love the photo of the fishing boat on the beach in particular. I was privileged to be there in Ghana and the moment I saw that boat I knew it had all the elements that would intrigue you for the creation of some art. As I looked at that boat while you were capturing it with your camera I was wondering exactly what you were seeing in it - what caught your attention - and ultimately how the final images would look.
    Well done! It captures the intriguing nature of the boat itself, without revealing too much about it, leaving it to the viewer to wonder about the stories it holds.
    The attention is focused on the near end of the boat, while the far end seems to be still emerging from the ocean and the past voyages it has experienced ....

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  5. I am glad to have been there with you on that trip; and very pleased that you had the insight into the image that I was trying to convey. It would have been easy to pop off a snapshot of the scene, but I wanted the viewer to have to think a little and finish the thought themselves. Thanks for commenting.

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