Detail
Photo by Bernadette Young
Lensational opened its first photography exhibition in Ghana on the topic of “Women & Work” on 1 May 2018 at St. Cecilia School in Ho, in collaboration with KickStart Ghana and photographer Francis Kokoroko.
The exhibition showcases the work of six young women and girls aged 13 to 28. They are exploring what the topic “Women & Work” means to them. They have found a new voice in photography to express themselves and their view of the world they live in.
Labour Day is a good opportunity to recognise the important contribution women make to national development through all types of work. While women in Ghana experience lower average earnings (particularly in the informal sector of which women make up the greatest proportion), a lack of access to education especially at the secondary and tertiary levels, high youth unemployment rates, and a lack of opportunity for career advancement in the formal sector, and often need to balance home responsibilities and income-earning activities, women demonstrate an incredible resilience to these conditions in order to provide for themselves and for their families.
The everyday working lives of women become unique stories thanks to the personal perspectives shared by these six photography students. We get to know their mothers who juggle the various chores to take care of their children; we discover a range of working and office spaces women find themselves in; we learn about market women’s choices of their livelihoods, and how they carry on family business for generations; we get a glimpse of the lives of women who do a so-called ‘man’s job’; and we learn about the daily hustle women go through both in rural or urban settings to make a living and support their families. The girls and the stories they share confirm our belief: when you empower a woman, you empower a nation.
The programme in Ghana is organised in cooperation with KickStart Ghana, a Ho-based charity that works to enhance educational opportunities for Ghanaians. Photographer Francis Kokoroko has been teaching the girls photography since January 2017. The programme is an extra-curricular education opportunity for the girls to discover and fulfill their potential, unleashing their creativity and talents and opening doors to a professional field that is very male-dominated in Ghana.
Family and friends, photographers, NGOs, the media, and anybody interested in photography are invited to the exhibition opening, and to listen to the stories the girls and women will share with the audience.
The exhibition will run until 31 May. Please contact KickStart Ghana (info@kickstartghana.org) to arrange a visit. Photographs will be available for sale on Lensational’s photography platform.