Two Daughters

[ Techiman, Ghana ]

I understand very well that I’m on shaky ground when I present myself as a photographer. I’m an amateur, with no training, in a world teeming with incredible talent, skill, and creativity. Most days I barely know how the camera works, so I count myself lucky when, or if, I capture a realistic slice of (my) life. For the sake of improvement I’ve been taking countless photos–of anything, everything, and anyone I can. I’ve been doing it for weeks now, and everyone around me knows it.

As a result I’ve been getting lots of requests & demands from folks. Yesterday that meant photographing the daughters of two women who work here at Hotel Dymn’s.

I’m not making grandiose claims here re my skills. What I am asserting is simple: I found these photos–particularly the eldest girl’s–beautiful. I was transfixed while editing–caught smiling and near tears simultaneously. This only happens to me when something strikes me as beautiful in a visceral way. It happens rarely, and usually catches me off guard. And so it was, for me, with this simple portrait. Smiles & tears: like a double rainbow. Which leads to the double rainbow guy. Which leads in turn to the double rainbow guy’s non-rhetorical question: “What does it MEEEEEAAAAAaaaaannnnnn?!?!?!?!”

I dunno. But here she is.
—jim