Boateng’s photos reflect Ghana’s joy: ‘There is enough sadness’

She didn’t have to say anything. Based on the colors of his mother’s clothes, Derrick Ofosu Boateng (25) knew as a child where she was going when she walked out of the house. If she dressed herself in black and red, it was a funeral. If she wore white, she went to church. “Each color has a meaning,” he says. This can also be seen in his work.

Young Ghanaian photographer Derrick Ofosu Boateng achieves international success with images that show off bright, processed colors. But getting a visa for Europe was still difficult. Last week he was present for the first time at an exhibition outside Ghana, in hotel and club Soho House in Amsterdam. The authorities appear to have difficulty with the idea that these ‘Instagram photographer‘ has not taken the traditional path: Boateng does not come from an artistic family and did not have an art education.

How come the photos, shot and edited with an iPhone, still caught the eye of the fashion brand Louis Vuittonfor a collaboration in the American culture magazine The DocumentJournaland with the American hip-hop icon Commonwhich she used for two album covers ?

Algorithm

The Instagram algorithm turned out to be in his favor. In 2017, Boateng started posting photos he took with his father’s phone (“he has a better camera”) on social media. The photos were soon picked up by galleries in Europe. He previously had an exhibition in London, at the St James Market Pavilion, than in the Ghanaian capital of Accra. “In Ghana they see these images everywhere, for Europe they are innovative,” he explains.

Boateng’s photos reflect “the cheerfulness and positivity of Ghana.” “There is enough sadness already. I don’t want to repeat the stereotypical images of Africa,” he says in the Soho House in Amsterdam, where he shows his new work. His compositions are simple and recognizable: many photos have a plain background and one or more smiling models with brightly colored attributes. The images make the everyday special.

Such as the photo of the busy Labadi Beach in Accra, where the ‘ordinary’ Ghanaian normally comes for a weekend outing. This time there is a broad smile royal depicted in a kente robe: a cloth traditionally worn by monarchs. For this photo, Boateng used one of the oldest kente collections in Ghana, from the Amba gallery in Accra. With this he fights against the Unicef-like images that often represent Africa. “We must not forget that we are descended from monarchs,” says Boateng, who belongs to the Ashanti people who still have a monarch.

Proverbs

Boateng often bases his photos on proverbs from Twi, the language spoken by the Ashanti, among others. He has a book full of them at home, proverbs are of great importance in Ghana. When he leafs through it, he can already see the photos in his head. As a result, and due to his good preparation and direction, photographing takes him little time, only four clicks are enough, he says: he knows exactly what he wants. He edited the photo on his phone in fifteen minutes. “Sometimes less.”

He then prints his prints in different color combinations. “It is very personal which colors evoke a good feeling,” says Boateng. “Color therapy”, he calls it, referring to the alternative medicine that is based on the healing effect of colors on body and mind.

“The president’s daughter once came to my exhibition, immediately walked over to this photo and asked if she could buy it,” he says with the photo New Beginning, where a woman with bright red balloons in her arms stands in front of a blue background. “Red and blue are the colors of her father’s political party, so those colors appealed to her.”

The optimism in Boateng’s images matches his own attitude. “I am always happy,” he says. Even now that relatively prosperous and stable Ghana is plagued by skyrocketing debts, inflation reaching as high as 50 percent and security threats from jihadist groups in the region. Domestic politics has no place in his work, he wants to spread joy. “Infectious laughter,” read the Instagram caption of the photo of the king on the beach.