The artist, Jude Lartey
Jude Lartey explores communal coastal landscapes within new photo exhibit titled ‘The Land of the Morees’
Jude Lartey’s ‘Land of the Morees’, curated by Chantel Akworkor Thompson, is
currently being exhibited at the La Foundation for the Arts in Accra, Ghana from now
through Thursday September 12th.
Writing by Denzel Amoah
Photography by Ernest Nana
Ampofo Aquaye
Courtesy of La Foundation
AUGUST 2024 | REVIEW
Jude Lartey is well known for documenting the vibrant intricacies of Accra. The renowned photographer often alternates between fashion and documentary style photography, which he uses as a medium for unpacking themes of gender performance, intimacy and urban everyday life. Lartey’s latest exhibition Land of the Morees, now on display at La Foundation for the Arts until September 12th 2024, takes a close look at the complex interstitial space between grit and glory within the lives of the coastal Moreesian fishing community located in Cape Coast, Ghana.
Destiny of The Land (2022)
Lartey, who often refers to himself as an image maker, documents the Moreesian community with an attentiveness to care that does not seek to glamorize or disparage the subjects of his images but rather captures the honesty of quotidian. Land of the Morees, includes subjects from diverse age groups within Moree allowing for a more nuanced understanding of the coastal fishing community from different vantage points of life. “These images are telling a story of a people and a culture...that even most people in Ghana don’t even know about...so people who come to the exhibition are able to have a feel and learn about Morees through my images...” Lartey notes. Through his images Lartey explores a variety of themes ranging from the youthful joys of camaraderie, within Destiny of the Land and Playground which documents the children of Moree in moments of togetherness and bliss, to the reality of how labor shapes the adult lives of the working waterfront as shown within No Days Off and Blood on My Feet. The result of this body of displayed works, is a robust dialogue of storytelling that Lartey facilitates through image between the Moreesians and their viewers.
Playground (2022)
Throughout Lartey’s images displayed in the collection, there is a sense of cinematic documentation that is present in all aspects of his work. Lartey is a meticulous artist who is intentional about the many moving parts that culminate into the development of his works. While working in fashion photography his usual process of image creation, which he credits much of his inspiration to the work of Malick Sidibe, includes ‘styling, creative direction, to set design, to photography,’ Lartey says. The eleven works displayed in Land of the Morees lean towards a more documentary style of photography, which Lartey credits major inspiration to both the famed Ghanaian photographer James Barnor as well as the images in his family albums that his grandfather had compiled while working as a bodyguard for former Ghanaian President, Kwame Nkrumah. Despite these images being captured in a documentary style, Lartey continues to maintain a diligence towards his works through his signature usage of warm tones and high contrasts that directly align with the vividness of the tropical West African coast.
No Days Off (2022)
Curated by La Foundation of the Arts Director Chantel Akworkor Thompson, who developed the foundations Young Artist Series which platforms Accra’s emerging artists under the age of 25, The Land of Morees is Lartey’s first ever solo exhibition. Through the Young Artist Series, Thompson aims to showcase talented Accra-based artists. Thompson aims to push against a current trend in which local artists oftentimes have their work recognized in the Western world before ever gaining recognition or support from their local institutions. The importance of African art being recognized beyond the Western gaze lies at the center of Thompson’s curatorial ethos, noting ‘This is a project that talks about us and needs to be in our spaces as opposed to spaces of spectacle’.
Blood on my Feet (2022)
Thompson is a curator who deeply values the relationships built between her and the artists she works with. Thompson references the relationship that curator Helen Molesworth had with the late painter, Noah Davis, as one of her curatorial inspirations, noting “...she came and spoke in London and it was as if he (Davis) was speaking and that is because of the richness of their relationship...” In addition to the photography, the exhibition adeptly incorporated diverse textures of Moree, which reflects Thompson’s understanding of the story Lartey is telling through imagery.
The Artist, Jude Lartey and Curator, Akworkor Chantel Thompson
Lartey and Thompson collaboratively produced an immersive and community oriented exhibition. Complete with ethereal sounds of water played by DJ Muud Swingz and DJ Z, fishing equipment used by local fishermen, and excerpts from Nii Ayikkei Parkes’ Legacies of Light plastered on the gallery walls that work to contextualize Lartey’s images this exhibition offers a rich exploration of the coastal cultural tapestry that is Moree.
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