The Making of Ghana, An African Portrait Revisited

IN 1984 I was hired as a consultant to theFood and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations. My job was to document a project in Ghana that promoted an improved way to smoke fish.
It was my first trip out of the country and going to Africa was exciting and at times a bit overwhelming. To complete my assignment I produced a poster, slide show, and a booklet, which were presented at the first meeting of theInternational Decade for Womenin Nairobi in 1985.
As part of my research for the trip, I came across Paul Strand’s book,Ghana, An African Portrait, published in 1976, but based on his trip to Ghana in 1963-64, when he was a guest of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president. He and his wife spent about six months in Ghana at government expense, traveling throughout the country. Often Strand picked out potential subjects then returned days or weeks later to make his images. He photographed in black and white with a large format camera and mostly made portraits.
The Ghana...