Pioneering the Pages: The Visionary Behind Africa’s Premier Photobook Library

Ghanaian photojournalist Paul Ninson was excited — and astonished.

When he arrived in New York to pursue photography five years ago, he uncovered a wealth of images showcasing life in Africa, both historical and contemporary, within the archives of the city’s libraries, galleries, and museums.

There he was, thousands of miles away from Ghana, engulfed by a greater visual narrative of Africa than he had ever encountered back home.

This contradiction inspired an idea: establish a library of photobooks in Ghana to bring the African narrative back home, enabling people to understand their history and equipping them with the tools to narrate new stories about the continent.

“A person cannot discover his true identity if he is unaware of his history and the origins of his lineage,” states Ninson. “To address issues in Africa, education is crucial.”

This vision came to fruition with the establishment of the Dikan Center in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Dikan translates to “take the lead” in the Akan language, primarily spoken in southern Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. The library commemorated its second anniversary just this past Monday.

Aspirations of grandeur

This isn’t the first time Ninson aimed for a seemingly unattainable aspiration. When he first embarked on a career in photography, the path appeared intimidating. Photography is not particularly regarded as a viable career option in Ghana, according to Ninson: “When you tell your parents you want to be a photographer, they react like, ‘Yuck, what? Pursue a career in law.”’

Nevertheless, Ninson believed photography was his destiny. The deep-rooted family tradition of storytelling handed down through his grandparents greatly influenced him, and later, he found inspiration in a friend’s photographs, cultivating a passion for photography. It felt effortless to intertwine the two crafts, prompting him to immerse himself fully.

He sold his iPhone, acquired a camera, and began to study photography, primarily by teaching himself.

Though Ninson started his path with commercial photography, he swiftly redirected his attention to narratives that resonated more personally — chronicles of African history and culture that he would document as an emerging photojournalist. His 2017 project, “Village With No Men,” provided an intimate portrayal of Umoja in northern Kenya — a women-only community formed by those fleeing gender violence and oppressive patriarchal contexts in their previous villages.

A New York state of mind

Ninson still pursued formal education in photojournalism. Failing to find an appropriate program in Africa, he departed Ghana in 2019, enrolling in Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York City. There, he consumed the center’s vast collection of photobooks. In Ghana, he had access to only five or six such titles.

As he explored the city further, he uncovered more visual histories of Africa than he had known at home, including documentation of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, at the New York Public Library. The museums and libraries he explored were unwilling to allow him access to their archives to return to Africa, which incited his desire to create a library in Africa that housed these stories.

Similar to coffee table books, photobooks serve as an excellent medium for storytelling due to their portability and longevity on a shelf. Michael Itkoff, co-founder of Daylight Books, an organization spotlighting the works of documentary and conceptual photographers, has been publishing photobooks since 2010. A supporter of Ninson and the Dikan Center from the very beginning, Itkoff asserts that photobooks provide a unique visual encounter in today’s world, which often emphasizes volume and swiftness of available online imagery. “The photobook facilitates a more intimate and slower — and I might add graceful — engagement with visuals,” states Itkoff.

The great book expedition

With notable determination, Ninson commenced his search across New York City for books to send to Ghana. While continuing his education during the COVID-19 pandemic, he frequented secondhand shops on the Lower East Side, took part in online auction battles, and connected with publishers and galleries, some of whom generously donated hundreds of materials. He drained his credit cards and filled his apartment walls with books, utilizing Uber and U-Haul trucks to transport the tomes to rental storage units scattered throughout the city.

Ultimately, he amassed over 30,000 books — primarily concerning photography and filmmaking, along with issues of publications like National Geographic that date back to the early 1940s.

Ninson received additional assistance from his friend and collaborator, Brandon Stanton, (creator of Humans of New York). Stanton initiated a GoFundMe campaign that raised over $1.2 million for the establishment of Dikan. With sufficient funding, Ninson was finally able to ship the collection across the ocean from the Bronx, where his shipping agent was based to Ghana.

In December 2022, the Dikan Center welcomed visitors just a few hundred yards from the Gulf of Guinea — and the same ocean waters that transported the vessels of the Atlantic slave trade. Set in a former residence remodeled to accommodate the center, all are invited to explore the African narrative for as long as they wish.

Dikan’s collections are divided into two categories: one focusing on African and African American narratives, while the other comprises works by photographers from around the globe. Ninson’s preferred book is also Dikan’s oldest, being the first book he purchased in New York: The Gold Coast Yesterday and Today by Paul Redmayne, released in the early 1940s. This book features images from the time Ghana was still a colony called the Gold Coast, prior to achieving independence from British rule in 1957. The stories told from a colonial viewpoint regarding the land that would come to be Ninson’s homeland remain “a continual source of inspiration for my efforts at Dikan, reminding me of the rich legacy we bear and the tales that need to be told.”with the globe.”

George Koranteng is a native of Accra and a digital communication expert associated with The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Ghana. Passionate about photojournalism as well as chronicling Ghanaian culture and history, Danso frequently visits Dikan, often spending several hours there. Danso recalls that when he initially searched “photojournalist” online, only white photographers showed up in the results. “And the question I posed to myself was, ‘Are there no Black photojournalists or documentary photographers?'” he recounts.

Through Dikan’s photobooks, Koranteng had the opportunity to immerse himself in the works of Black photojournalists, such as the illustrious Gordon Parks, an American photographer celebrated for chronicling the civil rights movement and the experiences of Black America. Danso was aware of Parks, but engaging with the books enabled him to connect deeply with Parks’ techniques and aesthetic, which profoundly transformed his artistry. “He [Parks] has a unique talent for seizing striking images of Black individuals. Therefore, for me, it truly altered my approach to photography. I focus intently on how light interacts with people’s skin, particularly how light enhances the skin of Black individuals … when it comes to capturing impactful images…”

Narrative lessons

In addition to the books, Dikan offers educational workshops, fellowships, and seminars focused on the competencies related to photojournalism and visual storytelling, equipping a new generation of narrators and creative pioneers with the resources to share fresh stories of the continent. Dikan’s commitment to training emerging storytellers has become influential enough that seasoned professionals are coming to impart their knowledge. One of last year’s workshops; “Photojournalism: Crafting Visual Narratives,” was conducted by Pete Souza, former chief official White House photographer during the Reagan and Obama eras, alongside experienced photo editor Alice Gabriner (National Geographic, TIME Magazine, and The New York Times). The center’s leading educational initiative is a full-time curriculum in documentary storytelling and visual journalism akin to the program Ninson completed at ICP. The first cohort — consisting of eight students from Ghana and two from Nigeria — graduated last December.

Alongside the educational initiatives, Dikan alleviates the technological barriers to visual storytelling by providing access to the digital instruments essential for weaving new narratives. The center contains a photo studio and offers access to computers, digital cameras (including 360-degree cameras), and virtual reality equipment.

Not all of Dikan’s narratives are confined to the volumes on its shelves. Dikan organizes rotating exhibitions and film viewings. The current exhibition at the center: “Tewahdo,” features female photographers Sehin Tewabe and Svenja Krüger’s documentation of the lives and culture of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.

Ghanaian Daniella Afful was deeply touched by Dikan’s second exhibition, “1957: Freedom and Justice,” which showcased images commemorating Ghana’s Independence from British Occupation. Afful stated it provided her with a renewed insight into this crucial chapter of her nation’s history as well as a clearer understanding of everyday life during that period. “People actually frequented bars. You see vintage dance styles captured on the walls … And I was unaware that there were that many photographers in the past. I believed photography was a modern phenomenon in Ghana…”

In Afful’s perspective, Dikan serves as a catalyst for the expansion of Ghana’s creative community: “Dikan has amplified art, elevated photography. Dikan has instilled in us the hope that we may soon have a music library in Ghana. We could establish a film library in Ghana — anything to preserve our history and commemorate our past.”

Max Posner is a documentary photographer residing in Richmond, Virginia. You can explore his work at maxposner.com.

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