Ivorian photographer nurtures talents

In Riviera Abidjan, the economic capital of Côte d’Ivoire, Barnus Sevi Gbekide, a seasoned and impassioned photographer gathers photography enthusiasts yearning to learn the art of photography.

Gbekide is helping shape the next generation of photographers in this West African nation. Beneficiaries are taken through the theoretical aspect of photography.

He tells Africanews, the need to build the capacity of others and promoting photography is his daily motivation.

‘‘The goal of this training is to help in promoting photography especially here in Africa…The art of photography is pretty young and in Africa it is even younger….And so, there is the need for Africans to recognize and appreciate this form of art’‘, Gbekide said.

In this classroom, people from all walks of life meet to also appreciate the technicalities in photography delivered by Barnus. Ladji Abdoulaye Konaté, a graphic designer is one of them. He hopes to deepen his experience in his field.

“I am a graphic designer and with graphic designing we are involved with image processing to a large extent.. I personally think it also goes hand-in-hand with photography in some way. I fell in love with photography and I decided that it is high time I mastered this form of art”, Konaté said.

When Barnus is not offering lessons in photography, the seasoned photographer hits the Ivorian capital with his camera to immortalize everything that inspires him. From people to objects, he simply captures and magnifies anything that seems to tell a story.

Besides his service to aspiring photographers, this impassioned photographer hopes to exhibit his works around the world some day, thus deepening interest in his craft.