Founded in 1922 by Nile Kofi Bruce, Deo Gratias is the pioneer and oldest photography studio still in operation in Accra Ghana. As the city celebrates 60 years of independence this week, the studio has revealed new photos of life in the 1920s and 1930s. The son of a bourgeois family in Accra, he opened his own institution: the Deo-Gratias Photo Studio in 1922 in the Jamestown area. At 23, he began making portraits of family and group of the British occupiers, traders Indian or black aristocracy of the city. After Ghana’s independence in 1957, he designed campaigns for international companies including oil. He left his son Isaac, who took over the Deo Gratias-Studio, a fund primarily consists of glass plate negatives, quality arts and literature from the colonial period with no equivalent in West Africa.
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A procession of Gold Coast troops on Empire Day, 1930. The inaugural exhibition at ANO’s new space, Accra: Portraits of a City runs from 4 March – 1 April 2017
Photograph: All images: Deo Gratias Studio
A procession of Gold Coast troops on Empire Day, 1930. The inaugural exhibition at ANO’s new space, Accra: Portraits of a City runs from 4 March – 1 April 2017Photograph: All images: Deo Gratias Studio
J.K. Bruce Vanderpuije (Ghana), Masonic lodge « Good templars », (1930- 1935) © J.K. Bruce Vanderpuije -
The Gold Coast central post office, Accra, 1930
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Members of Dormitory 2B Achimota school, 1929
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A procession of senior students of the Accra Royal school during the Empire Day celebrations. In the background is the lighthouse, the Bible House, and the current M&G pharmaceutical company building
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Achimota School Boxing club, 1933, photographed by Deo Gratias founder JK Bruce Vanderpuije
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The Korle-Bu laundry
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Siblings after Sunday church service, 1934
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The central police headquarters of the motor traffic transport unit, on the corner of Kwame Nkrumah Avenue and Kinbu Street, 1935
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Adorso House, Jamestown, 1929. The residence of the Vanderpuije family was also a popular spot for wedding photos
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Colonial authorities and guests look on as competitors prepare to set sail for a regatta in James Town Harbour, 1960
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J.K. Bruce Vanderpuije (Ghana), Gold Coast Regiment Officer’s mess in Accra, (1930-1940)© J.K. Bruce Vanderpuije
Over three dozen photographs by the late J.K. Bruce Vanderpuije, that were shot during the first half of the 20th century are currently on display at the District Museum in the Malian capital, Bamako.
The exhibition forms part of the 2009 edition of “Encounters of Bamako”, the African Photography Biennial, which is currently showcasing hundreds of works by African photographers on the continent and the Diaspora.
One of the pioneers of photography in West Africa, Vanderpuije, who set up the Deo Gratias Studio in 1922, is reputed to have documented diverse occasions during the colonial period, which by and large bring nostalgic feelings to people who have vivid memories of the period.
His photographs know no racial boundaries – indeed, his lenses covered activities of the British colonialists, Indian merchants and the black aristocracy in Accra revealing in the process a myriad of activities that characterized life in Accra during the period.
Countless photographs ranging from social gatherings like weddings, pristine coastlines, the main post office in Accra, notable landmarks including a high profile super market (now Swanzy Shopping Arcade), lodge members, colonial soldiers and students of Achimota School including Ghana’s first president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah with their British teachers adorned the exhibition hall.
Others are royalty from Northern Ghana, antic furniture/carpets, football clubs, passage rites, colonial architecture, Supreme Court building and other images that reveal life in colonial Ghana that may excite and provoke the present generation into deep thought and probably a mute journey into the not so distant history of Accra.
Pictures by Vanderpuije invoke history, culture, religion, trade, architecture, politics, education, fashion and many others that reveal the bare practicality of life in Accra during the 1930s and 40s. They provide a deep insight into activities and situations that may never be seen again, especially the architecture of the era, which is being replaced by buildings with borrowed designs from the west owing to lack of policies to protect and preserve them.
Interestingly, photos by Vanderpuije are not characterized by delicate mists and cloud-like effects, which were in vogue during the mid and late 19th century and were particularly popular with spiritualists who believed such images posses the ability to capture the body’s spiritual aura. [Please read the rest at: http://www.africancolours.com/african-colours-article.php?id=8&nid=2]
