Owusu Akoto opened the doors to his photography exhibit on Thursday night a half hour late, his face covered in sweat and his blue shirt stained with white spackle.
While Akoto's appearance may have revealed his inexperience in art exhibitions and his somewhat novice status in the art world, one never would have guessed such from looking at the 30 or so photographs that covered the walls of the Social Planning and Events Committee art gallery in Logan Hall.
The College senior says he tried to select pictures for the show that were panoramic of his last four years, which highlight his "experience being a foreigner, being new, being culturally ignorant."
Having moved from Ghana to Philadelphia in 2000, and having lived in Denmark last summer, Akoto is familiar with adjusting as a cultural outsider. This theme was central to the exhibit, which he named "Diary of a FOB." Standing for "fresh off the boat," FOB is a term commonly used to describe new immigrants to the United States.
"Coming here to most people I was just African, to some I was Ghanaian and to others Iwas just foreign or an international student," Akoto says.
His pictures captured various performances and parades celebrated in Philadelphia's South Street, Ghana and Denmark, as well as a few self-portraits.
Those pictures taken in Denmark were from Akoto's recent fellowship, Humanity in Action. His job there was to study the experience of second-generation immigrants, examining the way that they manage their personal expectations and those of their community and the public at large a topic that Akoto laughs he could go "on and on about forever."
Akoto, who has had three previous exhibitions at Penn and Princeton, became interested in photography after working as a TV host on a nationally televised show in his native country, Ghana.
"People say the camera never lies," Akoto says. "The camera lies all the time. The camera is a pathological liar."
Realizing this during his position as a show host, he became interested in production. After graduating from high school, he worked at an advertising firm for a year, where he became interested in photography specifically.
"It's something that really blew my mind," Akoto says. "I always thought of cameras and video cameras as documentary pieces of equipment, but I really discovered that they are actually tools of expression."
His mother then bought him his first camera an N65 Nikon as a gift, and he dove in. His only technical training to date came during his freshman year at Penn when he took a photography class. Otherwise, he has learned through "reading, reading and reading."
"Ialways say Iknow nothing about photography," Akoto explains. "Iknow nothing about the technical aspect of photography. I can produce images that people appreciate, but technically Iam not very prominent, to say the least."
Akoto says watching others look at his photography was at first "a very personal endeavor for me. It was like writing in your diary, like somebody reading your diary."
However, Akoto claims that his experience as a television host prepared him for showing his work.
"Working in front of the camera, people recognize you outside the studio ... so that loss of privacy is something I am used to," Akoto adds.
Implicitly comparing showing his work to showing his face, Akoto claims his photographs are representative of his unique background. He says he would never aspire for them to symbolize a particular population or common experience.
"It is the subjectivity that makes it the most interesting," Akoto says.
Akoto explains that he sees conceptual potential and then attempts to capture it within a shot. He rarely, if ever, is surprised by what he sees developed in the darkroom, knowing beforehand exactly how a shot will come out.
While Akoto clearly possesses photographic literacy and critical acclaim, he expresses ambivalence about the level of involvement he will have with photography in the future.
"Idon't know where Iam going to be in two years, or one year, or I guess six months," he says.
Akoto is interested in international law and is considering becoming a paralegal to learn more about the profession before committing to law school. He is also considering graduate school in Ghana.
Akoto plans to continue pursuing photography, coyly saying that "if people will have me do exhibits, I will do them," but also adding that at this particular time, he doesn't "feel a calling to pursue photography professionally."
Akoto said that he may change his mind "after a couple of decades of working 9 to 5."
