Whatever Clicks For Business

The scene is not picture perfect yet, but ace photographers are slowly capturing the creative market in Ghana.

- Peace Hyde

WHEN THE iconic Ghanaian photographer Emmanuel Bobbie, known widely by the moniker ‘Bob Pixel’, tragically passed away in February this year, the news sent shockwaves through the creative industry in Ghana.

Bobbie had become a hero to a battery of young and upcoming Ghanaian photographers steadily following in his footsteps to build their own brands and enterprises, hoping to make it in the sector, a move exacerbated by the growing youth unemployment in the West African country. Bobbie was one of the pioneers and enablers of this transformation with his work celebrated both in Ghana and the world.

His death reportedly attributed to Covid-19, turns the spotlight on the creative economy in Ghana. Whilst the pandemic has seen a renaissance of all things digital, it has also applied to the photography industry that now seems to be rapidly attracting a retinue of talented young men and women finding their feet in the once not-so-lucrative and unattractive sector.

One such beneficiary of this growth is Gilbert Asante, who has been making an impression on social media and the corporate world with his photography. Spotting a gap in the market for quality images when he began his career many years ago as a web designer, many of Asante’s photos have gone viral and been trend-setting in Ghana.

Some of the biggest celebrities and corporate brands have queued up to the doorsteps of Laceup Media, the bespoke production house offering services covering every sphere of advertising, from graphic design to billboards, videography, and commercials. Asante moonlights as a creative director for the company as well as being his own photography brand.