Nana Kofi Acquah
All photos are from the ‘Bedroom Portraits’.
About:
I was born two hundred metres away from São Jorge da Mina, the first slave castle built in tropical Africa.
My grandmother had a pub where wayfarers, fishermen, their wives, officers and anybody who had trouble or was looking for a little happiness would come, buy tots of the local gin, “akpeteshie” and start pouring their souls out. I would crawl under tables, eaves dropping and soaking it all in. When I got bored listening to them, I’d run to the beach, sleep in a docked canoe, play soccer with my friends, catch crabs or help some fishermen pull in their catch of the day.
I grew up on stories. Now, I am a storyteller who uses the camera as his favourite medium. After five years in the world of advertising and winning awards every single year, I hanged my boots as the Executive Creative Director of TBWA\ Ghana and decided to pursue photography full time.
I live in Accra, Ghana.
Nana Kofi on Feminism:
“I come from a matriarchal society. Women in my part of the world are very strong. They make the key decisions. We say that a child gets the soul of their father, but they belong to the mother.
“The love of my grandmother, the lessons she taught me – and for my mother – made me consider myself as a feminist and put myself in a position to strongly push women’s issues, any time I can,” Acquah says.
And this philosophy informs the way he sees his own children, “For me, feminism is when we can create a world where a woman has the same rights as a man. I believe my daughter has the same rights as my sons.”
His audience:
I focus on Africa and so far have worked for Corporates, NGOs and magazines in Cameroon, Uganda, Angola, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Cote D’Ivoire, Liberia, and Ghana. My work has been exhibited in Europe, Africa and America.
I am part of the Instagram group: Everyday Africa.
My clients include: UNESCO, Orica, Endeavour Mines, Marie Stella Maris, Nestle, CFA Institute, Olam, The Guardian, Geo France, The Financial Times, Getty Images, BASF, Nike, Arise Magazine, FIFA, IFAD, CARE, ActionAid, WaterAid, The Global Fund, Novartis Foundation, Vodafone and Philips.
