Intro

Ever Young

James Barnor

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An Autograph touring exhibition curated by Renée Mussai. Developed with support from Arts Council England. Original research and development supported by Heritage Lottery Fund.

Exhibition presented and organized by Casa África under the artist direction of Sandra Maunac.

The Ghanaian photographer James Barnor, who will be 91 this year, has worked as a photographer for over six decades, covering all the possible genres: from studio or street portrait, to reports commissioned by the press- for which he is considered as the first photojournalist of Ghana- working for advertising, composing fashion images for the South African magazine Drum or even opening the first colour photography lab in his country. Hence, going deep into his work means to dive along a remarkable long and fruitful timeline with the added value of linking different continents.

Very far from the cliché photos of the 1950’s until 1970’s, James’ photographs reveal as much about what is happening on the African continent as in a metropolis like London. On the first case, they show the rise of a nation on its way to independence and on the other, the awakening of a multicultural city. In both of them, through James’ photos we can see a gaze that expresses a sense of modernity far ahead of its time. The notions of race, of differentiated identity, of being pigeonholed at one point, stay away to this singular “magician” for whom crossing, diversity or non-linear paths are the most important constituent elements of a life that seeks and manages to be cosmopolitan.

In each of his shots —whether they are taken indoors, outdoors, posed or captured in action— a vitality stands out that is still evident in this man who, almost in a premonitory way, decided to call his studio “Ever Young”. This studio was opened in 1953 and it became, at the end, one of the most important studios of Ghana at that time.

That freshness, of an endless youth, appears on these pictures which are part of a work still unexplored in whole, which imply, although belatedly, a deserved recognition to his author.

The work of a great creator of photographs, which is still unpublished in Spain, tells us as much of the transformation of the continent as of the importance of photographer’s role as witness and actor of his time. This work arrives here today to us thanks to the great archive work from Autograph, and in particular, from that of the curator of this traveling exhibition, Renée Mussai.

Sandra Maunac

Images

James Barnor, Ginger Nyarku, featherweight boxer with Coronation Belt, Accra, 1953. Courtesy of the artist and Autograph, London. © James Barnor

James Barnor, Drum cover girl Erlin Ibreck, London, 1966. Courtesy of the artist and Autograph, London © James Barnor

James Barnor, Mike Eghan at Piccadilly Circus, London, 1967. Courtesy of the artist © James Barnor

Exhibition

An Autograph touring exhibition curated by Renée Mussai. Developed with support from Arts Council England. Original research and development supported by Heritage Lottery Fund.

Exhibition presented and organized by Casa África under the artist direction of Sandra Maunac from 14th February to 30th April 2020

Video