Hours after landing at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, I stumbled into Black Star Square amid parades of schoolchildren carrying wooden rifles and tin swords. I had stepped out that morning with my camera, intending only to loosen my reflexes before meetings for Holding the Line... a test to see if I could still work intuitively and quickly in street-life settings.
I barely pulled my camera out of the bag before people began asking for portraits. Instagram handles were exchanged, smiles offered. Three boys posed proudly in front of the square, their improvised weapons gleaming in the sun. They stood tall, rehearsing valor.
Republic Day in Ghana marks the country’s transition to full republican status in 1960, a celebration of independence and self-determination. Each year, the nation’s pride fills Black Star Square. Students from schools across the country march in neat formation, flags wave, and the president attends to salute them. The displays echo military precision, yet the participants are mostly children and teenagers, not yet old enough to serve. The spectacle was less about war than about discipline, unity, and belonging.
#moments series
Every frame tells a fragment of a story—unplanned, fleeting, and unfiltered. These single-image posts capture the unscripted moments. Sometimes they speak to the work; sometimes they simply breathe life between frames. Explore the moments series.
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