Children photograph Accra

“Some of the pictures are really good; others are fairly banal but it is interesting that they captured not only the built architecture but also spaces, streets, the beach, public squares and  interior courtyards of  family homes. In a place like Nima, some of them were able to get the very hyperactive market scenes.”

A crowd of excited children filled the Children’s Library for the opening of the exhibition which runs till March 31. Those that went round to take the pictures said they felt proud, alongside their parents and guardians, to have been part of the project.

There was a lively discussion, led by Mamma  Dzramedo I an actress and cultural activist, of how all the children present interpreted the pictures. From the flurry of comments that ensued, it was clear  they generally felt alive to the potential  that the city holds for them, but were also upset about some of the degradation.

Some of them commented on the toils of selling throughout the day in the sun and about the filth in some places. The overall gratifying feeling was that they felt they could improve themselves enough in the future to land good jobs  or be in positions to help make a difference to the fortunes of the city.

“It is extraordinary how they managed to grasp the city and its future or what sort of future they have in the city and how they would like to  compose it.

One got the sense that if we are struggling to come to grips with certain issues about the city, they don’t intend to follow the path we have created,” said Nat Amarteifio.

The engrossing pictures depict the endurance, enterprise, decay and confusion  about a city where ordinary folks live, work, hustle,  laugh, love and die.

They are pictures of a city that the young photographers and their colleagues believe they would grow up to uplift and turn into a better place for all inhabitants.