James Barnor, who captured Ghana’s independence, wins top photography honour at 97

James Barnor is no stranger to big moments.

When Ghana declared independence in 1957, he was there with his camera. In 1960s London, he challenged stereotypes of Black models and artists with photographs for Drum magazine. In 1970, he established Ghana’s first colour-processing laboratory.

Now aged 97, he is receiving one of photography’s top honours.

The World Photography Organisation has revealed that Barnor will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award at the 2027 Sony World Photography Awards.

“When I opened my studio in Accra, I never imagined that my work would take me so far: through Ghana’s independence, to London and back again,” Barnor said in a statement.

“My camera became my companion, and I have never regretted it.”

From Ghana to Britain and back again

Born in 1929, Barnor learned photography from his cousin, J. P. D. Dodoo, himself a prominent photographer working in Accra during the Gold Coast colonial era.

At the age of 21, Barnor became the first staff photographer at Ghana’s Daily Graphic newspaper and went on to photograph political rallies, street parades and Ghana’s journey to independence in 1957.

That includes the moment when independence leader Kwame Nkrumah declared Ghana free from British rule, even if film processing delays meant his pictures never made it into the newspapers.

In 1953, Barnor opened Ever Young studio in Accra’s Jamestown district. There, everyone from students and shop assistants to politicians and judges would pose for portraits as Barnor began documenting everyday life in a country undergoing enormous change.

In 1959, he moved to Britain, where he studied at Medway College of Art and later worked as a colour printer. He also worked for Drum – the South African magazine known for its anti-apartheid reporting – and captured the lives of London’s African diaspora during the 1960s.

Barnor regularly took his fashion photography onto London’s streets, photographing Black models and celebrities with a style and confidence rarely seen in the British press at the time. His portraits appeared on Drum’s covers and fashion pages, giving Black Londoners the prominence mainstream magazines often denied them.

After training with film manufacturer Agfa-Gevaert in Belgium and Germany, Barnor returned to Ghana in 1970 as a company representative and helped establish the country’s first commercial colour-processing laboratory.

A globe-spanning legacy

As France celebrates 200 years of photography with more than 1,000 events through until September 2027, Barnor’s recognition recalls another important chapter in the medium’s history, from the final years of British colonial rule in Ghana to the emergence of a multicultural United Kingdom.

Today, he is widely considered one of the pioneers of African photography.

Barnor’s photographs have been exhibited around the world, including at London’s Serpentine Gallery, the Detroit Institute of Arts and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. They are also part of major collections at both London's Tate Museum and the National Portrait Gallery – and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Barnor will receive the award at a ceremony in London on 15 April 2027. A retrospective featuring more than 50 photographs and archival materials from across his career will also run at Somerset House from 16 April to 3 May 2027.