Tales Of Men

© Natalija Gormalova

And the drums
the drums guide our feet
in this backwards -forwards dance
this forwards-backwards dance
This Husago Dance
This Misugo Dance
This dance into a future
That ends in the past.
Two steps forward
to where hopes
rise like rainbows.
One step backward
to where sorrows
fall like tropical thunderstorms..
-Kofi Anyidoho

My Ghana: Tales of Men are close encounters with people from all corners of the country who shared with me their stories. Subjects in my photographs are ordinary people who dream and dance and sing and pray, who have sorrows and hopes for the future like everybody else. But for me each story is important and I see value in telling these stories and talking about common truths by using photography as a vessel.

Throughout my journey I was collecting poems, proverbs, tales and sometimes songs recited to me by people I photographed which has given me an amazing insight and deeper understanding of the richness of Ghanaian culture and traditions through the knowledge of people that had been passed through the generations. It is all one song.

click to view the complete set of images in the archive