Meet Stanley Afful, The First Ghanaian Photographer to Win the WIPO Photography Prize for Indigenous Youth

 

Who is Kwesi The Artist?

Known commonly as ‘Kwesi The Artist,’ Stanley is a multidisciplinary visual artist from Ghana with a BA in African Studies from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, who specialised in Societies and Cultures.

As a passionate mentor and advocate, Stanley’s work revolves around themes of culture dynamics, identity and memory.

He explores how stories are shaped, reshaped and sometimes distorted by memory and therefore, encourages young people to share their stories with the world.

 

“Photography is a tool I leverage to give myself and others a voice to tell our stories nonverbally, challenging assumptions people make about others and inspiring positive language and narratives. I traverse how people tend to tell the stories of others from their point of view, which causes ‘single stories,’ a term coined out of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘The Danger of a Single Story’.”

– Stanley Afful

 

The WIPO Award Ceremony:

As the Third Place Winner of the WIPO Photography Prize for Indigenous Youth 2024, Stanley’s award-winning photograph features “Edur Poon (Pun)”, a traditional Fante healing practice used to treat fever, malaria, and other diseases. He describes it as a powerful example of how Indigenous healing practices remain deeply rooted in the socio-cultural fabric of Fante communities, even with the rise of contemporary medicine.

Under the theme “Indigenous Peoples’ Ways of Healing and Well-Being: Honoring Our Ancestors’ Wisdom and Knowledge,” the competition featured nearly 400 young members of Indigenous People from around the world who explored the connection between their communities’ traditions, beliefs, health, and well-being through photography.

The winners were announced on December 2, 2024, at a prestigious ceremony held at the WIPO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, which also showcased a breathtaking exhibit of the 15 finalists’ shortlisted works.

 

Stanley’s career as a professional Photographer kicked off in the year 2021 as a student in the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Since then, he has gained multiple recognitions and has been featured both locally and globally with some being the 35Awards Global Ceremony, Agora Awards, and among others.

He has gone ahead to work with some of the incredible creative artists, writers, and lecturers in Ghana.

Apart from being the first Ghanaian Photographer to attain such a remarkable foot on a global stage, Stanley as a student also became the first student to win one award category twice from the Ghana Tertiary Fashion Awards ceremony in the year 2022 & 2023.

  

Congratulations, Stanley, on this remarkable achievement! Your work highlights the invaluable wisdom of Indigenous cultures and inspires us all to honour and preserve these traditions.