[Nana Kofi Acquah weblog] Portraits of the Aged

  1. Posted on Monday 26 March 2007 - 16:00
    Nana Kofi Acquah
    Image of Nana Kofi Acquah
    26 March 2007, by Nana Kofi Acquah in Accra, Ghana. When you are a 25 years old young man whose younger brother just died of Tuberculosis; the same disease had killed your mum and will kill you in about a year's time, what do you think about? These are the circumstances that compelled John Keats, one of England's most prominent Romantic Poets to write his famous Odes. After pondering on life, and what really is important, he concluded in his Ode on a Grecian Urn, that:'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,that is all'Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know'In many cultures today, aging is no longer regarded a privilege. It's actually treated as a crime. In Ghana, 90% or more of the people who end up being accused of witchcraft are old people. In more advanced societies, they just bunch them together and dump them in a place where they can comfortably forget about them. But no matter how we do it, the fact remains, that modern society will do everything to avoid aging. To be honest, this is no new thing, it is the extents we go to now, that are scary.

    The ancient Greeks so hated the idea of aging that they introduced a new thinking- anthropomorphism; which is the belief that their gods are immortal, forever youthful and had the ability to morph into whatsoever they wished. Zeus had a reputation for morphing into anything so he could seduce a woman. And hey, remember the story of Archilles? A man who was immortal almost? If he wasn't so arrogant, he would have lived forever youthful, just like his mum. But after all the fantasy, after all the advertising that tells us use this cream, swallow this pill, drink this juice and you'll stay youthful forever, we wake up one day to the reality that aging is inevitable if we are to stay alive.


    I spent a lot of my childhood years with my maternal grandmother. She was my inspiration, my muse, my smile, my mentor in every way and although she's now six feet down somewhere in Elmina, what she left me will stick with me forever- a respect for life and beauty.


    Anytime I step out in the streets of Ghana, I look out for the aged, to see if I can capture a story- a story of truth I can immortalize through the photograph.


    Click here for Nana Kofi Acquah's weblogpage.

Latest News

  1. OPINION: Welcome to African Green Revolution24/05For the past century and a half, Africa has tried various agricultural approaches without much success.
  2. Egyptians vote in historic election23/05Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who serv…
  3. Africa Day 2012 - a moment for reflection and…22/0525th May is Africa Day. For many years it has been a celebration of African unity. It dates back to 1963 when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) …
  4. South Africa's African agenda21/05The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlanthe paid a rare visit to Ghana in April at the invitation of John Dramani Mahama …
  5. Women struggle to rinse hunger, poverty stains21/05Just looking at her one clearly appreciates that she is old and frail therefore in need of support for food, clothing and shelter to live comfortably …
  6. Climate Climate change affects migratory birds…21/05Changes in the climate globally have affected the movement of both migratory and resident species of birds, Nature Uganda has said.
  7. Ghana: Foreign retailers cited for currency…18/05The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is attributing the sharp depreciation of the Ghana cedi against major currencies to the illegal activiti…
  8. Kenya: Community radio brings succour to…18/05Korogocho, a slum in northeastern Nairobi with 100,000 inhabitants, had many of the ingredients for a political explosion similar to those that rocked…
  9. Veld fires 'flame' Zimbabwe's…16/05Over the years, Zimbabwe has experienced the scourge of veld fires destroying property worth thousands of dollars.
  10. Liberia commends ECOWAS for support14/05The induction training of pioneer Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Volunteers for Liberia kicked off in Monrovia, with the Deputy Mi…
  11. Vanishing Lake Chad puts 30m lives at risk14/05As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, the evidence of despair is telling.
  12. Heavy rains cause havoc in Kenya14/05Heavy Rainfall continued to wreak havoc across the country leading to the suspension of relief food in some parts of the country as most roads in Turk…
  13. Zimbabwe: Growth points lie dormant14/05The Zimbabwean government mooted the concept of growth points in the 1980s as a means of decongesting cities and towns.
  14. Sierra Leone improves in infant mortality11/05Sierra Leone has improved in infant mortality cases according to Save the Children- World Motherhood index 2012 report. The West Africa country descri…
  15. Algerians vote in parliamentary election10/05Polls have opened in Algeria for parliamentary elections which the authorities have billed as more free and transparent than ever before.
News archive