Accra — Rockson Adu Boahen | Posted: Monday, January 14, 2008

A book titled Ghana an African Portrait Revisited by Prof. Abena Busia has been launched in Accra.

The book was inspired by the first President of Ghana, who thought it wise to contract an American photographer Paul Strand to make a photo-catalogue about Ghana called "This is Ghana", but a year after the death of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the book was produced.

The book was revisited by Sub-Saharan Publishers, who teamed up with Prof . Abena Busia and six photographers to come up with this book.

Speaking to the ADM, one of the photographers Peter Randall, said this has been his dream for 20 years. He said Paul Strand was in 1964 invited to document Ghana in a way that no other African country has ever been documented. He spent six months in Ghana to take ten thousand pictures about Ghana.

The book, according to Prof. Abena Busia is a way to continue the memory on Ghana's history. The essay part of the book to her was to find a way to explain the photography. She hoped it goes a long way to help Ghanaians to understand their history.

The U.S Ambassador to Ghana, Pamela Bridgewater, urged Ghanaians to get copies of the book since it is essential to all Ghanaians. The book, she said, is a piece for the mind not only for the eye.

The original book for the reproduction was brought to Ghana from the USA to help Ghana actualize Dr Nkrumah's dream of seeing a united Africa for which he saw the need to use Ghana as a stepping stone.

Prof Atukwei Okine said the book is an archeology on the soul scape of a nation. The book to him contains Ghana's history and a guide through memory and continuity to history.

"The poetic symbolism of the poem and pictures in the book are meaningful to Ghanaians, if we forget our history today then there will be no bright future for this country" he said.