Ghana

I first discovered Ghana when I came across Paul Strand’s beautiful book dedicated to this country. It left an incredible impression upon me and that day I promised myself that one day I would go and photograph Ghana.

After my book Fils de roi - a work entirely dedicated to Egypt - was published by Gallimard Editions, I felt that it was time for me to renew my source of inspiration. Starting with fresh landscapes and new ways of being, I decided to explore Sub Saharan Africa.

My first encountered was in Accra, with the community of Jamestown’s fishermen. I was struck by these scenes which reminded me of old oil paintings.
The lights along the ocean dazzled and transformed the men into silhouettes.
After experiencing the prudishness of Egypt, I loved the beauty and the freedom of the Ghanaian bodies. For a photographer, these bodies are a gift.

Further to meeting Joseph, I visited his village in the Ashanti region. However, Ghana is not a country so easily tamed, and I had to go there and return many times. And during my last trip, I found that my stubbornness paid off. It was then that I discovered a village at the foot of Lake Volta where I encountered the most beautiful people. It was there that I took possibly my finest portraits of a village idiot, of the children, and once again, of a group of fishermen.

I love this feeling of perpetual discovery that reminds me of childhood. I try to live within this eternal and renewable state of constant re-birth.