Liberia: Rebranding Liberia - Meet the Young Entrepreneur Who Is Changing the Landscape of Photography for the Better

Congratulating the illustrious change maker, Edmond Lloyd, CEO of Edana Photography.

While working as a full-time public servant, engineer and planner within the Ministry of Public Works, helping to shape infrastructural development in Liberia, Edmond is a full-time creative artist, photographer and dedicated entrepreneur. He has a Master of Engineering Degree in Town and Country Planning, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Building Construction Technology with an emphasis in Architecture Engineering and is currently a candidate of Master of Science in Environmental Science from the University of Liberia.

From humble beginnings, with strong empirical scholastic records from high school through college, Edmond landed in India over six years ago after being awarded a full scholarship by the Government of Liberia. While completing his Master of Engineering program in Town and Country Planning at the prestigious GTU - Gujarat Technological University, he found his direction in the creative industry. On the sidelines of studies, he did not only master the art of video and photography, but also worked as part time model for clothing brands. With the newfound passion, he completed professional courses in VFX, 3DMax, 2DAnimation, and Adobe After Effect among others.

A simple google search of the word Liberia will bring you images of war, poverty, hunger and disease (this is because we are not documenting our own stories). Whereas, there are thousands of untold stories about the rich cultural heritage of Liberia, the beautiful places of tourist's attractions, the amazing lifestyle, etc., that need to be showcased to the world. Against this backdrop, Edmond was inspired to tell the Liberian story in a unique through his camera lenses.

Upon his return to Liberia, he established "Edana Photography" named after his darling daughter with the vision to "rebrand Liberia through positive imagery". He begun by taking his daughter's photos and posting online which eventually sparked attentions as the quality was not ordinary on the Liberian market. Soon, friends and families begun to reach out asking for his service. At first, he did it free of charge, but it was time consuming, so Edmond decided to add costs to his services. However, the more he added costs, the more clients pulled in exponentially. Then he said to himself, "this is a potential business, let's do it". Moreso, Edana Photography announced itself and covered a dear friend's wedding in August of 2016 and started to transformed the landscape of imagery and became an inspiration to many other start-ups. Today, Edana Photography is not just about "photography and videography". They have other franchises Edana Magazine, Edana Online Magazine and pretty soon, Edana Tours, Edana Studios and more.

Edmond introduced what is now known as photoshoot in Liberia on a large scale which is not just a means of capturing people's happy moments, but also as a revenue generating stream for many photographers.

He is a 2021 beneficiary of the Liberia Employment and Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP), an AFD funded program implemented by Mercy Corps Liberia.

When the UNDP-funded Growth Accelerator Liberia program was announced for the second cohort this year, Edmond was assured that this was a proper platform to help amplified his desire to scale Edana Photography and impact the lives of many young people. Of the many applicants, Edana Photography emerged as one of the winners of $USD 40,000.00 in grant.

The Growth Accelerator Liberia is a UNDP and the Government of Liberia initiative under the Livelihood & Employment Creation Project implemented by iCampus, Accountability Lab Liberia, BSC Monrovia and Growth Africa aimed at empowering young potential Liberian entrepreneurs thru training and access to finance.

What a story of resilience and vision to be told. Congratulations to the Edana Team. Vermon Sangah Lloyd, Gurmue Suah et al. We made it! I'm proud to serve as advisor and graphic art consultant to the beginning of more success stories. I've always maintained that Liberia is not short of leaders and people of vision. It's the politics that blinds us to recognizing these incredible people among us.

It only gets better!

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