Ghana
A young woman walking the bridge over the River Volta Carrying her business fortune of the day on her head Clouds float lazily in the sky, crossing the river without a drop Ethereal Narcissuses contemplating their reflection in the water Photo Hugh Ardoin Africa by any Means Necessary Gallery
Under a bright sky dotted by scattered cumuli The road to go to Togo stretches like a grey snake The treacherous serpent that will coil and strike In an instant of blindness the flash of a crash We know that one day we will die, but on the others we will not… Photo Hugh Ardoin […]
On the road again, speeding like Kerouac between Accra and Lomé The perilous 120 mile avenue, littered with car wrecks and memento mori Roadside opportunity casket sellers and small businesses flourish Catering for the travelers every possible needs and beyond Here a young lady takes a nap in front of her Sunday-closed shop Photo Hugh […]
It is a long and straight road from Accra ,Ghana to Lomé, Togo Small shops flourish at the corner of the corn fields, the farmer’s pocket They sell the corn, repair a bicycle tyre and all the odd food and goods The iron wire, rubber band and cello-tape roadside self-help A do-it-almost-yourself business and social […]
Outside, looking out as we drive by Safekeeping fortunes he will never behold An old man in a ragged uniform stands guard A container like a red wall, keeping worlds apart Heavily pregnant of its abstract load of value More than meets the eye, but forever unseen Photo Hugh Ardoin Africa by any Means Necessary […]
The old Accra is famous for its boxing schools The choice of the name is another matter Reminds me of “Discipline and Punish” by Michel Foucault A famous philosophical work about education, society and its prisons It matters what we learn, but it matters even more how we think… Photo Hugh Ardoin Africa by any […]
In the middle of the old Jamestown,the old colonial Accra A green house stands in the guise of a Seaview Hotel A flaky deco to peddle a club, a bar with rooms and a beer outlet The obituaries posted on the wall in the local manner A reminder of our swift passage in this world […]
Every man is king in his own castle Happiness is not an incontrovertible rule We find sunshine in our own sunny spots Ghana was once called the gold coast A name that betrayed the purpose of the colons Before then, it was a powerful empire in its own name Photo Hugh Ardoin Africa by Any […]
Roadside businesses and family affairs in African cities This is the laundry day where the cleaning takes place manually A natural machine that goes by the hum of the song of human work The sun provides his luminous electricity as nimble hands do their own part The unique image of an instant that will repeat […]
All is quiet on a Sunday morning in the deeply Christian capital of Ghana Once upon a time the gold-thirsty adventurers and missionaries of all feathers flocked to the West Coast of Africa to collect gold bodies and souls They bought the land at the barrel of their guns and the Old Empire of Ghana […]