Street Photography - Time for Reflection

I know it's been a while since I last posted and I apologize (nearly typed apologise, really getting way too used to British English) for that. I've been busy and also find it hard to motivate myself to write when I don't have pictures to accompany my words. I know many people are much more inclined to read if they have some pictures to break up the text, so I wanted to wait until I had some to share. Well, last weekend after sleeping in I motivated myself to get out, get some confidence, and try and take some pictures of the streets of Accra. Street photography is rapidly becoming one of the most popular type of photography, so what is it exactly? Well, I don't really have a good definition, but my best interpretation is that it is an attempt to capture the world, and particularly people, in a natural state. This often means taking photos of people without first notifying them or asking permission - not to be rude, but because to ask would ruin the natural element.

Right around the corner from home. She was taking a nap.

The results in Accra were pretty positive, but not without some minor issues. I'll cover those later in this writing. Now rather than writing just about my experience walking around the city, I thought I'd cover a bit of a broader topic. So, I'll be writing about some of the more interesting feelings I've been having over the last few weeks and will just put pictures in as I see fit (for the most part, this will probably mean just every paragraph or so, I know others attention spans might not be better than mine).

The Little Things


At Bentley, my Cross-Cultural Understanding course that I was required to take before being eligible for a semester abroad program focused heavily on the stages of culture shock. It made some sense at the time: start with the honeymoon stage where everything new and different is awesome and perfect..."Oh wow! Look at how the cars don't stop at red lights, so cool!" Then, progress is made towards the disintegration and stage where those little things that were once ever so cool become ever so annoying. This might result in me screaming at my taxi driver to look before he crosses over wildly into the next lane.

A great photo subject. Shortly after I took this he ran inside. At first, I thought I'd scared him. His mom told me that he'd run in to change clothes to look better for the camera!

This could continue into the re-integration stage which is best summed up as "America is the best and that's that". Really, I just miss American food, but this has at times left me with the undeniable conclusion that our country is leagues ahead of anywhere else in the world. But from here, and I hope that I'm entering this stage now, we reach the autonomy stage. Here it's easy to still recognize and note the major differences between the new culture and the old one, but as one might say, it's easy to "take it with a grain of salt." Now, I've come to enjoy cab rides that are pure insanity. I've even resorted to bringing my camera along in hopes of capturing video of some of the more death-defying rides. Max and I share many good laughs on the way to work together. There is a fifth stage too, independence, but I don't expect to reach it as I'll only be here for two months.

A bike shop, minutes walk from my home.

Of course, traffic violations aren't the only major differences I've noticed. There are countless ones, but I wanted to mention a few that you just might not normally consider. First, the aforementioned British English, coupled with thick Ghanaian accents. Not only did it take me a few weeks before I could even begin to understand most people's speech, it took me even longer to understand just how different British English can be at times. Especially on the job I've found myself completely distraught when I haven't the faintest idea what a word or expression means. On the topic of language, Ghana may be english-speaking but I would hesitate to say that English is the most frequently spoken language. Twi (pronounced closer to tree, still working on saying it correctly) is the most common native language and can be heard regularly, even in a professional setting. Today, my co-worker said to me something along the lines of, ".... prepayment vouching ...." with the ellipses representing a quite extensive use of Twi. I think she may have forgotten who she was talking to.

Had to throw in this duck photo to break up the serious mood.

People hiss at you when they want to get your attention. It feels at first like a rude gesture, but it's not at all really.

Yes, that is half of a Beetle sticking out of the building.

Everything is cheap, but not that cheap if you get paid in the local currency. Inflation is killing the Ghana Cedi as the exchange rate has gone from about 1.3 in March to about 2.00 now. I learned quickly that rationalizing my purchases by converting to USD is a bad idea. After all, I'm not getting paid in USD.

A common sight - these kids are likely watching a soccer game happening on the other side of the wall.

Ubruni (or something like that) means "white man". I hear this a lot. It's never in bad taste but more likely would be used to get my attention. I guess they assume I understand it, and I actually do, which is nice.

There was some serious talent out there despite how young these kids are.

The trotro is an experience like no other. This is Ghana's attempt at public transportation, only it's entirely private. The lack of regulation means anyone can more or less get into the business. They just need to get their hands on an old van and have a "mate" to travel with. When I say old, by the way, I'm talking about vans that are often more than 40 years old. I'm yet to ride in one that had anything left on the inside but the sheetmetal itself. These vans are packed with people at all times and there is DEFINITELY no air conditioning, but hey, this all comes together to deliver what could possibly be the world's cheapest transportation system. If I wanted to, I could travel all the way to Ho, probably a 5 hour commute, for less than 5 cedis. That is less than $3. Granted, I might be not comfortable on the way.

In the background you see Nima, a slum next to Kanda. Kanda is where I am living.

Regarding my street photography experience, it was easy to make some observations. Most obviously, kids absolutely LOVE having their picture taken.

Really had to do some serious editing of this one to get detail in the kids faces, so I had to add a dramatic effect.

Post-game shot, interesting how not everyone chose to smile.

As eager as the kids might be to have their pictures taken, parents can be just as upset. I did have a few people yell at me when I pointed my camera at them, but this is my fault. I'm still working on getting the courage to ask people ahead of time, and again, it kind of ruins the point of street photography. I had an equal amount of people yelling to me to take their picture, though.

The most startling thing about my trip - and I want to be careful to point out that this was an isolated incident and absolutely is not reflective of Ghana or its people - was a man who yelled at me when I walked by him. I wasn't trying to take his or anyone's photo at the time, but I had my camera with my largest lens attached, and I guess it looked fancy. He said to me, "Hey, white man, you bring that fancy camera around to take pictures of people on the street, but when they come calling for help, you don't answer!" I kept walking, and he yelled a bit more to me as I passed. I didn't really feel threatened but the moment offered some interesting insight as to why people might not want me taking their pictures.

Happy to get some attention.

As you might detect from my tone, I'm really beginning to fit in here (despite how much I will always stand out). I'll even say that I'll miss it when I leave, although there are so many things I can't wait to be back home, and then abroad again, to experience.

I  posted this picture because I wanted to show what happened moments after I pointed my camera at just the two kids you see above. They were literally shoving each other out of the way to be the star of the shot. Afterward, they then all swarmed me to see what the picture I'd taken looked like.