Photography, an art of telling stories using pictures
Three decades ago, photography was a tedious task that only a few persons could undertake. It involved taking pictures with analogue cameras, where the image is first captured on a film before it is transferred for printing.
Advertisement
That was laborious hence, the inability of many people to participate in this memorable activity.
As a result, a few photographs were taken, since the few people who wanted their memorable events captured on camera had to rely solely on their services.
Studios were also set up across various neighborhoods in the country to help print these pictures that will be treasured and preserved for posterity.
Photography has, however, transformed thanks to the advent of technology.
With the click of a phone, one can take a picture. The ease of accessibility of the mobile phone also means that studios are virtually needed.
But does this spell the death of the photography business? The answer is no.
Three distinguished photographers, who appeared on the Springboard, Your Virtual University, on Joy FM, explained that photography was an art that will stand the test of time.
The three, Mr Steve Ababio, Mr Rodney Quarcoo and Madam Senyuiedzorm Awusi Adadevoh, were brought to the studio to educate listeners on how to transform a natural talent into a world class skill.
AGENDA 2027
The show formed part of the Career Development series, which is held on the theme: ‘AGENDA 2027: Focusing on the next 10 years and how to gain mastery in your area of endeavour.’
The series is expected to inspire and motivate audience throughout the country.
On how his journey started, Mr Ababio said he discovered his photographic talent at a tender age. It started when his father traveled around and tells a story about his trip through the photographs he brought back home.
“I love photographs and I always enjoy the photographs my father brought back home—it is as if we all traveled with him,” he said.
He explained that photographs have several functions that included sharing memories, telling stories and directing opinions towards a particular subject.
He said photography had both scientific and artistic angle because it uses technical equipment to capture those things.
Photography as art
On how to take a good picture, Mr Ababio said it required understanding on what went into making a good picture.
“Understanding the elements of story and how they can be incorporated into your photography is one of the factors to identify,” he said.
He explained that photography was both an art and a science that could be harnessed for development.
“It is art in the sense that the thing, which is created in the mind of the artist, did not exist before his or her work.”
“It is science in the sense that the material they put together has some basis in chemistry. The photographer is seeing something that he or she is showing you and some aspect about it.”
Steve Ababio
“He is not showing you everything he is seeing but rather focusing on the angle he wants you to see in order to convene a particular story,” he explained.
When asked whether photographers use their work to change happenings, Mr Quarcoo answered in the affirmative.
“Recently, I saw a photograph from Haiti, where there were soldiers jumping from a helicopter and they were all lined up with their guns pointing at a particular direction to shoot someone. But behind the scene, there were several photographers taking shot of the scene, therefore without the accompanied scene with several photographers you will actually believe that it was at a war scene,” he said.
Just like writers, Mr Quarcoo indicated that the perspective was largely driven by motive and intent of the photographer.
He said contrary to the notion that pictures did not lie, pictures could be twisted to represent what the photographer wanted to achieve.
“Pictures tell the stories the person who created them wants to tell or want his/her viewers to focus on and this is one of the things that brought me back home to do what I do,” he said.
He observed that other people have been telling the African story from their perspective for too long and it was now time for the citizenry to take over and tell the story from their own perspective.
Photographing soldiers
For her part, Madam Adadevoh, who is a photojournalist, noted that she fell in love with photography through a book she read while growing up.
“When growing up as a child, I was an introvert and I got introduced to a camera at age eight.”
Senyuiedzorm Awusi Adadevorh
“I took a shot of my mother and for me, it just told a story and that was the easy way to talk,” he said.
Asked which of her works placed her in the spotlight, she recounted a shot she took of some military officers who were training at the El Wak Sports Stadium in Accra.
That shot, she said actually got her job in 2008 after several recommendation from people she had never met.
