Crown Transport
Presented is a collection of images created during a 6 day trip to Ghana in 2019, titled The Black Star.
Artist Statement
The opportunity presented itself by way of Kamilah Toms, a friend who has had the pleasure of traveling the continent and Ghana was her home for 5 months. When asked, “What do you want to visit and where you want to go?” my answer, the people.
I did not participate in social events based around the “The Year of the Return”. Not that they were not amazing events I’m sure, but my first time visiting the Continent I wanted to explore genuinely and respectfully amongst the day to day activity of the people. The collection pulls inspiration from how the heat felt mid-day, the languages being spoken, the magnetic appearance of skin equally beautiful as royal and the views of true fishing villages. Most photos with faces visible are darkened to hide easy recognition and identities while still capturing each moment undisturbed.
No photo is posed but candidly blaq, rich in historical essence, and dynamic in composition. I also wanted to document the experience organically, as an African American visiting a place, a possible home of ancestry that has been exploited historically through a white gaze in school and media.
This is, Ghana.