Photographer to Build Africa's Largest Photo Library for R14 Million in Ghana with 30,000 Books

Photographer to Build Africa's Largest Photo Library for R14 Million in Ghana with 30,000 Books

  • Paul, a gentleman from a humble background in Ghana, is set to build Africa's largest photo library right in Ghana
  • According to the young man, who struggled to make it through the art of photography, the library will provide a great resource for young photographers
  • The budget for the library that is starting off with 30,000 books is $1 million (R14.3 million) and over $600k (R860k) has been gathered already

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A Ghanaian photographer identified as Paul, who struggled to make a living after the birth of his daughter, is now building the biggest photo library in Africa, which is the first of its kind in Ghana.

Narrating his story to Humans of New York, Paul indicated that he decided to undertake the project in order to provide a rich resource for Ghanaian and African photographers who are unable to access such a wealth of knowledge.

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How it all started

Paul's journey into photography started off with him trying to find a way to take care of his daughter called Emmanuella, who he had with her mother at the age of just 20.

Dikan, photo library, R14 million, $1 million
A photographer is setting up a library called Dikan with 30 000 books for $1 million. Image: Supplied
Source: UGC

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The young man, in an attempt to make a living, was able to get a loan from his mother, in addition to little savings he was able to gather, to purchase his first-ever camera.

However, life still did not give Paul a chance as he hardly ever made a decent living, and all his efforts to come up with a story that would get published fell through.

The breakthrough

The turning point for him was when Paul met a man from Humans of New York in Ghana and approached him with his story, which got the ambitious photographer some funding to study more about photography in the United States of America.

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While in America, Paul suffered racial abuses and many counts of disdain over the color of his skin that he decided to return to his home, Ghana, and provide what he struggled to get as a young photographer to others.

Efforts made towards building the library

So far, he has collected 30,000 books, registered his nonprofit in Ghana, formed a Board of Directors consisting of Ghanaian educators and business people as well as, met ministers and government officials.

Paul has also networked with publishers, executives, and administrators in America in the bid to make his dream of building Africa's largest photo library in Africa come true.

According to Paul, the historic library will be called Dikan.

Read the story from beginning below

Ghanaian artist buys 6 aircraft

In an equally inspiring story, Ibrahim Mahama, a 34-year-old Ghanaian artist, who lives in Tamale, has narrated how he was able to set up an expensive arts centre in the Northern Region through his art.

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Narrating his story in an interview on the YouTube channel, Exposed By Bebs, Ibrahim said he has been able to sell an artwork for $ 1,000,000 and others at lower but expensive prices.

Ibrahim who interestingly shares the same name with Former President John Mahama's brother, was able to acquire six different aircraft ranging between $10,000 to $20,000 each for his art centre.

Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Kelly Lippke avatar

Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.